Phase unwrapping algorithm using breadth-first-search and multi-level segmentation of phase quality interval in digital holography

A quality-guided phase unwrapping algorithm is proposed based on the breadth-first-search and multi-level segmentation of the phase quality interval. In the proposed method, the pixels having phase quality values below a threshold associated with a given segment are unwrapped based on the breadth-first-search strategy implemented in a recursive manner. The pixel selection based on the multi-level phase quality interval segmentation allows to perform noise-robust phase unwrapping and the recursive breadth-first-search technique offers computational efficiency in the implementation of proposed algorithm. Three segmentation strategies are investigated in reference to the phase unwrapping accuracy. Simulation and experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm offers desirable trade-off between the phase unwrapping accuracy and computation time.