US Patent 8184279 Fourier domain sensing

Methods, systems, and apparatuses are provided for measuring one or more sinusoidal Fourier components of an object. A structured second radiation is generated by spatially modulating a first radiation. The structured second radiation illuminates the object, The structured second radiation is scaled and oriented relative to the object. The object produces a third radiation in response to the illuminating. A single-element detector detects a portion of the third radiation from multiple locations on the object substantially simultaneously for each spatial modulation of the first radiation and for each orientation of the second radiation. A time-varying signal is produced based on said detected portion of the third radiations. One or more characteristics of the one or more sinusoidal Fourier components of the object are estimated based on the time-varying signal.