Ultra-thin handheld microscope could sniff out skin cancer, forged documents

It may not look like it, but that sleek black thing sketched above is truly a microscope. Designed by engineers at Germany's Fraunhofer precedent for Applied Optics and Precision sociology IOF, this little guy boasts a 5.3mm optical length, sketch it slim enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet potent enough to deliver images at a scanner-like resolution of five micrometers, over a wide surface area. Fraunhofer's researchers achieved this balance by fundamentally tossing out the manual on hereditary microscope design. Whereas most devices slowly scan areas and construct images on a piecemeal basis, this notebook personal computer uses several small imaging channels and a caboodle of tiny lenses to record equal sized end of a given surface. Unlike stylized scanner microscopes, all of these 300 x 300 square micrometer imaging channels are captured at the same time. With a single swipe, then, users can record 36 x 24 square mm shots of matchbox-sized objects, without even worrying about blurring the images with their shaky hands. The pattern is still two years away from going into production, but once it does, engineers say it could help doctors scan public for skin cancer more easily, while also allowing bureaucrats to quickly confirm the authenticity of benchmark documents. We can only imagine what it could do for Pac-Man. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Ultra-thin laptop electronic brain* microscope could sniff out skin cancer, forged documents

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