Imaging of hidden object using passive mode single pixel imaging with compressive sensing

Hidden object imaging has always been challenging for obtaining satisfiable imaging because of the limitations caused by the reflections from the surrounding environment. The light is highly degraded after propagation and reflection from the hidden object. Single-pixel imaging (SPI) is an advanced imaging approach becoming more remarkable; applicable for acquiring spatial information in low light, high absorption and backscattering conditions. Combination of SPI and compressed sensing (CS) can efficiently tackle the key drawbacks of SPI, such as long data-acquisition time and low reconstruction resolution. In the present study, a CS based hidden object SPI system is designed. This is able to reconstruct an image without the influence of diffuse reflection from a two-dimensional (2D) target, which is placed in a corner practically concealing the objects over 10 × 10 cm of hidden space. The reconstruction obtained by our method is desirable and can save more than half of the data-acquisition time compared to the SPI algorithm. Our contribution presents a new insight for the application of SPI and provides a guideline for researchers to improve their applications.