PurposeVisualization of medical images on a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) requires binocular fusion of a stereoscopic pair of graphical views. However, current image quality assessment on VR HMDs for medical applications has been primarily limited to time-consuming monocular optical bench measurement on a single eyepiece.ApproachAs an alternative to optical bench measurement to quantify the image quality on VR HMDs, we developed a WebXR test platform to perform contrast perceptual experiments that can be used for binocular image quality assessment. We obtained monocular and binocular contrast sensitivity responses (CSRs) from participants on a Meta Quest 2 VR HMD using varied interpupillary distance (IPD) configurations.ResultsThe perceptual result shows that contrast perception on VR HMDs is primarily affected by optical aberration of the VR HMD. As a result, monocular CSR degrades at a high spatial frequency greater than 4 cycles per degree when gazing at the periphery of the display field of view, especially for mismatched IPD settings consistent with optical bench measurements. On the contrary, binocular contrast perception is dominated by the monocular view with superior image quality measured by the contrast.ConclusionsWe developed a test platform to investigate monocular and binocular contrast perception by performing perceptual experiments. The test method can be used to evaluate monocular and/or binocular image quality on VR HMDs for potential medical applications without extensive optical bench measurements.
Purpose: Unlike conventional displays, medical image perception in medical extended reality (MXR) applications often involves relative motion between the digital content and the subject with additional sources of noise in the spatial and temporal domains that affects the MXR image quality.
Methods: We describe a spatiotemporal image perception model with static and dynamic signal and noise configurations. The 3D spatiotemporal noise is decomposed into 2D spatial noise and time-dependent noise with motion. The noise in the temporal domain is categorized into time-invariant fixed pattern noise (FPN) and temporal noise that varies per display frame. Visual integration of the moving signal and noise emulates the spatiotemporal image perception of dynamic detection targets in a smooth-pursuit event. A target detection model is implemented to compute the detectability of both low-contrast and high-resolution signal-known-exactly/background-known-exactly (SKE/BKE) targets in various static and dynamic imaging configurations using a non-pre-whitening model observer with eye filter (NPWE).
Results: Smooth pursuit of a moving target suppresses the high-frequency dynamic resolution and noise in the orientation tangential to the motion trajectory. For the dynamic signal and noise configuration, the reduction of both resolution and high-frequency noise results in similar target detectability compared to the reference static image perception. On the other hand, the visibility of a moving target with static FPN is enhanced due to noise aliasing. Visual integration for approximately 33 ms of time-variant temporal noise at 90 Hz display refresh rate reduces the effective noise compared to the FPN by temporal fusion of noise in neighboring display frames.
Conclusion: Spatiotemporal integration of dynamic signal and noise can potentially affect image quality. Complete assessment of image quality in MXR devices needs to consider the contributions from 3D spatiotemporal characteristics.
We demonstrate a quadrant detector-based method for aligning image sensors to the optical axis of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) head mounted displays (HMDs). The sensor location that gives optimal image quality is known as the eyepoint. While a wide variety of methods have been explored for determining the eyepoint, the sensitivity and results of these methods depend on the optical design of the HMD. In our quadrant detector-based method, a test pattern consisting of dots is displayed on the HMD and imaged by a camera. The signal from the camera is divided into four quadrants and the camera is positioned at the eyepoint when the signal difference between the quadrants is minimized. This method has the advantage of giving the direction of the eyepoint from a single measurement without mapping the eyebox of the HMDs. The measurements were performed using an FDA developed setup for characterizing HMDs with the flexibility to incorporate a variety of light measuring devices and HMDs using commercially available components, which is described in detail. These results demonstrate a generalizable eyepoint alignment method, which allows for simpler automation of aligning the camera to the eyepoint.
Emerging uses for extended-reality (XR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) within medical environments include visualizations of medical data across various imaging modalities including radiography, computed tomography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance images. Rendering medical data in XR environments requires real-time updates to account for user movement within the environment. Unlike stationary 2D medical displays, XR HMDs also require real-time stereoscopic rendering capabilities with high performance graphics processing units. Furthermore, performance depends on the status of added systems including tracking sensor technology, user's input data, and in the case of augmented reality (AR), spatial mapping and image registration. These temporal considerations have implications for the interpretation of medical data. However, methods for the evaluation of their effects on image quality are not yet well defined. The definition of these effects in the context of medical XR devices is at best inconsistent if not completely lacking. In this work, we compare the effects and causes for three classes of XR spatiotemporal characteristics affecting medical image quality: temporal artifacts, luminance artifacts, and spatial mapping artifacts. We describe the XR system components starting from user movement recognized by inertial measurement unit and camera sensors and ending with user perception of the display through the optics of the HMD. We summarize our findings and highlight device performance areas contributing to the different effects.
We demonstrate that transverse chromatic aberration (TCA) measurements can be used to determine the eyebox of a virtual reality head-mounted display using a digital test pattern, which consists of red, green, and blue bars placed horizontally and vertically at ±5°, ±10°, ±15° in the field of view. The pattern also features a white cross in the center of the field of view to determine the horizontal and vertical resolution. This provides simultaneous measurements of the TCAs and resolution for a given position of the camera in the eyebox. A map of the eyebox was generated by raster-scanning the position of the camera over the eyebox. The results for the Oculus Rift show that resolution has approximately a quadratic dependence on the position in the eyebox whereas the response to TCAs is linear. Therefore, TCA provides a more sensitive eyebox measurement at small displacements allowing for repeatable centering within 0.5 mm.
Patrick Vora, Ryan Beams, Sean Oliver, Jaydeep Joshi, Sergiy Krylyuk, Irina Kalish, Alina Bruma, Iris Stone, Arunima Singh, Francesca Tavazza, Stephan Stranick, Albert Davydov
The structural polymorphism intrinsic to select transition metal dichalcogenides provides exciting opportunities for engineering novel devices. Of special interest are memory technologies that rely upon controlled changes in crystal phase, collectively known as phase change memories (PCMs). MoTe$_2$ is ideal for PCMs as the ground state energy difference between the hexagonal (2H, semiconducting) and monoclinic (1T’, metallic) phases is minimal. This energy difference can be made arbitrarily small by substituting W for Mo on the metal sublattice, thus improving PCM performance. Therefore, understanding the properties of Mo$_{1-x}$W$_x$Te$_2$ alloys across the entire compositional range is vital for the technological application of these versatile materials.
We combine Raman spectroscopy with aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction to explore the MoTe$_2$-WTe$_2$ alloy system. The results of these studies enable the construction of the complete alloy phase diagram, while polarization-resolved Raman measurements provide phonon mode and symmetry assignments for all compositions. Temperature-dependent Raman measurements indicate a transition from 1T’-MoTe$_2$ to a distorted orthorhombic phase (T$_d$) below 250 K and facilitate identification of the anharmonic contributions to the optical phonon modes in bulk MoTe$_2$ and Mo$_{1-x}W$_x$Te$_2$ alloys. We also identify a Raman-forbidden MoTe$_2$ mode that is activated by compositional disorder and find that the main WTe$_2$ Raman peak is asymmetric for x<1. This asymmetry is well-fit by the phonon confinement model and allows the determination of the phonon correlation length. Our work is foundational for future studies of Mo$_x$W${1-x}$Te$_2$ alloys and provides new insights into the impact of disorder in transition metal dichalcogenides.
We compare side lobe suppression methods for nonlinear superresolution optical microscopy using phase masked excitation beams. The excitation point spread function (PSF) can be engineered by introducing a phase mask for superresolution microscopy. By applying a single π phase step to the excitation the central spot can be narrowed and provide improved lateral resolution. However, the energy redistribution leads to side lobes with increased intensity that complicates imaging applications. Several methods have been implemented to suppress the strength of the side lobes including confocal detection and utilizing beams with different phase masks in multiphoton microscopy. Side lobe suppression methods using confocal detection and different phase masks for the excitation beams are compared theoretically and experimentally. These results demonstrate the additional flexibility for PSF engineering for nonlinear optical processes.
Molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2), which can exist in a semiconducting prismatic hexagonal (2H) or a metallic distorted octahedral (1T') phases, is one of the very few materials that exhibit metal-semiconductor transition. Temperature-driven 2H – 1T’ phase transition in bulk MoTe2 occurs at high temperatures (above ~900 C) and it is usually accompanied by Te loss. The latter can exacerbate the control over reversibility of the phase transition.
Here, we study effects of high-temperature annealing on phase transition in MoTe2 single crystals. First, MoTe2 were grown in sealed evacuated quartz ampoules from polycrystalline MoTe2 powder in an iodine-assisted chemical vapor transport process at 1000 C. The 2H and 1T’ phases were stabilized by controlling the cooling rate after the growth. In particular, slow cooling at 10 C/h rate yielded the 2H phase whereas the 1T’ phase was stabilized by ice-water quenching. Next, the phase conversion was achieved by annealing MoTe2 single crystals in vacuum-sealed ampoules at 1000 C with or without additional poly-MoTe2 powder followed by fast or slow cooling. Similarly to the CVT growth, slow cooling and quenching consistently produced 2H and 1T’ phases, respectively, regardless of the initial MoTe2 crystal structure.
We will discuss structural and optical properties of the as-grown and phase-converted MoTe2 single crystals using TEM, SEM/EDS, XRD, XPS and Raman. Electrical characteristics of two-terminal devices made from metallic 1T’ and bottom-gated FETs made from 2H exfoliated crystals will also be presented.
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