Improving quantitative neutron radiography through image restoration

Commonly in neutron image experiments, the interpretation of the point spread function (PSF) is limited to describing the achievable spatial resolution in an image. In this article it is shown that for various PSF models, the resulting blurring due to the PSF affects the quantification of the neutron transmission of an object and that the effect is separate from the scattered neutron field from the sample. The effect is observed in several neutron imaging detector configurations using different neutron scintillators and light sensors. In the context of estimation of optical densities with an algorithm that assumes a parallel beam, the effect of blurring fractionates the neutron signal spatially and introduces an effective background that scales with the area of the detector illuminated by neutrons. Examples are provided that demonstrate that the illuminated field of view can alter the observed neutron transmission for nearly purely absorbing objects. It is found that by accurately modeling the PSF, image restoration methods can yield more accurate estimates of the neutron attenuation by an object.