{
  "id": 11199545,
  "title": "Letting light wander through milk—a surprising approach to better imaging",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/letting-light-wander-through-milk-a-surprising-approach-to-better",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-01T13:20:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-10-approach-imaging.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Scientists at the International Center for Translational Eye Research (ICTER) have discovered a new method for improving optical imaging that involves allowing light to scatter in a different pattern during each measurement. This technique could potentially lead to clearer images with reduced speckle noise and distortions. Speckle noise is a grainy texture that arises when light waves scattered by different parts of a sample overlap and interfere with each other, resulting in a random pattern of bright and dark spots that can obscure fine structures. This phenomenon is particularly problematic in optical coherence tomography (OCT), which relies on the ability to select photons that carry structural information.\n\nTo test the idea that varying light scattering could improve imaging, the ICTER team combined mathematical modeling, computer simulations, and experiments using OCT. They developed a dynamic scattering medium (DSM) that introduced small, time-varying changes in the direction and phase of the light as it passed through the sample. By creating a series of slightly different measurements, the researchers aimed to suppress speckle noise and reduce image distortions.\n\nThe study, published in Scientific Reports, evaluated two methods of combining the images: magnitude averaging and complex averaging. Magnitude averaging relies primarily on signal intensity information and is simpler to implement. However, it often leaves behind a bright background, which can reduce the contrast between bright and dark areas in the target image. Complex averaging, on the other hand, takes both the amplitude and phase of the light wave into account. While it requires more precise alignment of successive measurements, it can preserve more information and remove the constant background more effectively.\n\nThe researchers found that magnitude averaging significantly reduced the graininess of the speckle pattern, bringing the speckle contrast value from 0.69 to 0.93 down to between 0.06 and 0.09. However, complex averaging offered even greater improvements in reducing speckle contrast, though it required more complex data processing and precise phase stabilization. Overall, this novel approach to optical imaging demonstrates how carefully controlled light scattering can become a useful tool for enhancing image quality, potentially without the need for increasingly complex optical hardware.",
  "summary": "Light scattered in tissue usually ceases to be a useful source of information. But what if, instead of forcing it to travel along a single path, we allowed it to wander a little differently each time? Scientists from ICTER tested this seemingly risky idea and showed that a series of measurements that differ from one another can produce a clearer image than a single frame.",
  "key_points": [
    "Scientists at ICTER discover new method for optical imaging.",
    "Dynamic scattering medium introduces time-varying light changes.",
    "Magnitude averaging reduces speckle contrast to 0.06-0.09."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}