US 12,076,133 B1
Signature mitigation for uncooled thermal systems
Jeffrey L. Jew, Brookline, NH (US); Michael A. Costolo, Amherst, NH (US); and Adam O. Powers, Manchester, NH (US)
Assigned to BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., Nashua, NH (US)
Filed by BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., Nashua, NH (US)
Filed on Mar. 30, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/217,288.
Int. Cl. A61B 5/11 (2006.01); A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/113 (2006.01); A61B 5/349 (2021.01); A61N 1/39 (2006.01); G01J 5/08 (2022.01); G01J 5/0804 (2022.01); G01J 5/0813 (2022.01); H04N 23/23 (2023.01); H04N 25/21 (2023.01); G01J 5/00 (2022.01)
CPC A61B 5/1114 (2013.01) [A61B 5/0024 (2013.01); A61B 5/1117 (2013.01); A61B 5/113 (2013.01); A61B 5/349 (2021.01); A61B 5/4094 (2013.01); A61N 1/3925 (2013.01); G01J 5/0804 (2022.01); G01J 5/0813 (2022.01); H04N 23/23 (2023.01); H04N 25/21 (2023.01); A61B 2562/0219 (2013.01); G01J 2005/0077 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system comprising
a focal-plane array (FPA) comprising:
a two-dimensional configuration of thermal sensors arranged in rows and columns; and
readout circuitry to pulse bias one or more thermal sensors of one or more selected rows and obtain output from the pulse biased thermal sensors;
a shutter; and
a processor configured to control the shutter to interrupt an optical path between the pulse biased thermal sensors and an aperture of the system while the pulsed biased thermal sensors are being pulse biased, wherein the shutter comprises a plurality of alternating transparent and opaque sections coupled to a shaft and a motor, wherein the processor controls the position of these sections relative to the pulsed biased thermal sensors using the motor.