Paris, France: German engineers have created a camera no bigger than a grain of salt that could change the future of health imaging -- and clandestine surveillance.
Using 3-D printing, researchers from the University of Stuttgart built a three-lens camera, and fit it onto the end of an optical fibre the width of two hairs.
Such technology could be used as minimally-intrusive endoscopes for exploring inside the human body, the engineers reported in the journal Nature Photonics.
It could also be deployed in virtually invisible security monitors, or mini-robots with "autonomous vision".
3-D printing -- also known as additive manufacturing -- makes three-dimensional objects by depositing layer after layer of materials such as plastic, metal or ceramic.
Due to manufacturing limitations, lenses cannot currently be made small enough for key uses in the medical field, said the team, which believe its 3-D printing method may represent "a paradigm shift".
It took only a few hours to design, manufacture and test the tiny eye, which yielded "high optical performances and tremendous compactness," the researchers reported.
The compound lens is just 100 micrometres (0.1 millimetres or 0.004 inches) wide, and 120 micrometres with its casing.
It can focus on images from a distance of 3.0 mm, and relay them over the length of a 1.7-metre (5.6-foot) optical fibre to which it is attached.
The "imaging system" fits comfortably inside a standard syringe needle, said the team, allowing for delivery into a human organ, or even the brain.
"Endoscopic applications will allow for non-invasive and non-destructive examination of small objects in the medical as well as the industrial sector," they wrote.
The compound lense can also be printed onto image sensor other than optical fibres, such as those used in digital cameras.
Using 3-D printing, researchers from the University of Stuttgart built a three-lens camera, and fit it onto the end of an optical fibre the width of two hairs.
Such technology could be used as minimally-intrusive endoscopes for exploring inside the human body, the engineers reported in the journal Nature Photonics.
3-D printing -- also known as additive manufacturing -- makes three-dimensional objects by depositing layer after layer of materials such as plastic, metal or ceramic.
Advertisement
It took only a few hours to design, manufacture and test the tiny eye, which yielded "high optical performances and tremendous compactness," the researchers reported.
Advertisement
It can focus on images from a distance of 3.0 mm, and relay them over the length of a 1.7-metre (5.6-foot) optical fibre to which it is attached.
Advertisement
"Endoscopic applications will allow for non-invasive and non-destructive examination of small objects in the medical as well as the industrial sector," they wrote.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
"Spiked Needle" Attacks On Women On The Rise In Spain Top Syringe Maker Asks PM Modi To Lift Factory Shutdown Order WHO Warns Of Massive Syringe Shortfall In 2022 Woman Found Chained In Maharashtra Jungle With US Passport Copy In Pocket Rahul Gandhi, Rajnath Singh Face Off In Lok Sabha Over Agnipath Scheme "Was Driving Very Fast": SUV Driver Arrested After 3 Drown In Delhi Basement CA Foundation Result 2024: June Exam Scorecards Released Home Ministry Forms Panel To Probe Delhi Coaching Centre Deaths Girl, 3, Falls Into Borewell In Madhya Pradesh; Rescue Operation Underway Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.