REAL LIFE NEWS: INJECTABLE MICRO-CAMERA
by Hazed
A new tiny camera which is as small as a grain of salt could be a boon to health imaging. Unfortunately, it has a darker side because it could also aid clandestine surveillance.
The camera has been created by German engineers from the University of Stuttgart. They used 3D printing to build a three-lens camera and then fitted it onto the end of an optical fibre the width of two hairs.
This technology could be used as endoscopes, and would be much less intrusive than current versions. It fits onto the end of a standard syringe needle so could be easily delivered to a human organ.
It will also have possible uses in mini-robots with autonomous vision. But it could also be used to create security monitors that are virtually invisible.
Making lenses the traditional way means they can’t be made small enough for some uses in the medical field. The manufacturing process has limitations. But by using 3D printing the researchers were able to build the compound lens which is just 100 micrometres wide (that’s 0.1 millimetres). It can focus on images from a distance of 3mm, and relay the image over the length of a 1.7-metre optical cable.
The researchers said that it took only a few hours to design, manufacture and test the tiny lens. They reported that it yielded “high optical performances and tremendous compactness” and said that this 3D printing method may represent “a paradigm shift”.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-28/3d-printed-injectable-micro-camera/7548966
(yes, I know this comes from a story dated last June, but I thought it was interesting anyway!)
