*** 9704314 Jannson This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will develop a new mathematical model, based on the Globally Optimized Inverse Method (GOIM), to solve inverse scattering problems in diffusion tomography (DT). Current inverse imaging techniques for highly-scattering (turbid) media present undeniable performance limitations. Mathematical shortcomings result in poor global inverse problem convergence in numerous applications. Phase I research demonstrated the feasibility of the GOIM algorithm, leading, for the first time, to the globally convergent solution of time-dependent 3-D inverse scattering problems (ISPS) in turbid media. The GOIM algorithm (software) and supplementary companion DT device (which consists of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware) demonstrate one example of commercial application of the inverse scattering problem modeling process. The GOIM concept is adaptable to a number of other commercial and national interest applications, including underwater search and rescue; early breast cancer diagnosis; detection by Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) of mines/plastic explosives; airport security explosives detection; microwave-guided secure aircraft landing (minimized "bird strike" risk); mail bomb detection; aging aircraft nondestructive evaluation (NDE); earthquake prediction and plasma diagnostics. ***
