Caltech Shows Off a Lensless, Miniaturized Microscope 110
DeviceGuru writes "Caltech claims its researchers have 'turned science fiction into reality' with their development of a single-chip microscope. Although it doesn't have any lenses, the device is said to provide magnification comparable to that of sophisticated optical microscopes. The microscope's magnifying capabilities derive from a technology known as microfluidics, which is based on the channeling of fluid flow at incredibly small scales. Applications for the so-called 'optofluidic microscope' are expected to include field analysis of blood samples for malaria, or checking water supplies for giardia and other pathogens. The project's director thinks devices based on it could be implanted directly into the human body, in order to help arrest the spread of cancer." There's also coverage of the microscope at EE Times.
Image splicing (Score:5, Interesting)
All of the images are then pieced together to create a surprisingly precise two-dimensional picture of the object.
So how much of this device is really software on a much larger device like a laptop?
Re:Washington Quarter Noses (Score:3, Interesting)
Heh, and it was mislabeled in the caption. Would anyone have caught the error if only the caption specified the size in centimeters, and it was accidentally doubled?