Advancements in Computational Imaging and Optical Computing

Dear Colleagues,

We kindly ask you to provide us with a short summary that provides a "rationale" to enrich this Special Issue. This summary should be a guide to potential authors and should clarify the background and aims of the Special Issue. The summary can be prepared according to your research interests and wider research trends.

Computational imaging is an emerging field that seeks to push the fundamental limits in imaging systems by integrating optics and computation. These new-generation imaging systems embed computers as part of the imaging system, where optical setup and post-processing algorithms are designed simultaneously. On the other hand, recent advances in optical computing, such as all-optical neural networks, provide promising alternatives to enable highly efficient “computing” at the speed of light using only optical and photonic components. Such novel optical computing devices promise to significantly reduce power, bandwidth, and size and enable “edge computing” directly on systems. Furthermore, the amount of information that can be extracted from these images is tremendous. Researchers have leveraged advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning to translate these images to meaningful biological/histological information, as seen in techniques such as imaging modality translation and digital staining. As a cross-disciplinary research topic, computational imaging has evolved far beyond simply imaging, drawing interests from expertise in optical physics, signal processing, computer science, and machine learning, with broad applications in bioimaging, physical science, and industrial inspection.

This Special Issue aims to publish selected contributions on advances in the design, development, and applications of computational imaging and optical computing. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following: computational imaging, optical system designs, lens-less imaging, optical neural networks, AI-augmented imaging, optical computing, quantitative phase imaging, computational microscopy, imaging modality translation, and digital staining.

Dr. Yunzhe Li
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• computational imaging
• optical system design lens-less imaging
• optical neural networks
• AI-augmented imaging
• optical computing
• quantitative phase imaging
• computational microscopy
• imaging modality translation
• digital staining