Final Report on the Elastic Surface Transformation.

Abstract : The report contains a summary of the first three years of work and a detailed description of the last year of work on the Elastic Surface Transformation--a new signal enhancement technique. An elastic film was developed and used to test the concept of the Elastic Surface Transformation. The results showed that the concept is valid: images acquired on an expanded elastic film were enhanced when the film was contracted; i.e., edge spread ('blur') was reduced, contrast was increased, and the ability of observers to detect low contrast images was increased. Implementation of the concept by means of an elastic film would require an improvement in the qual9ty of the elastic emulsion. But the concept may be implemented electronically. An electronic implementation is within the state-of-the-art. (Author)