On Sept. 8, 2016, OSIRIS-REx lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a ULA Atlas V rocket to begin its seven-year mission to sample an asteroid. The Applied Optics Lab (AOL) designed three cameras in OSIRIS-REx.
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One of the most actively developed uses for freeform optics right now is as light collectors and uniformizers for spotlight and directional-floodlight general-illumination LEDs. Due to a diffuse—and often nonrotationally symmetric—directional light output, a bare white-light LED device itself (usually consisting of a flat blue LED with a layer of yellow YAG phosphor), while very bright, cannot efficiently serve as a floodlight illuminator; it needs to be paired with optics. Freeform optics, with their many tweakable degrees of freedom, are an ideal choice.
Solutions required for progress on the frontiers of photonics technology are close at hand: in nature, when viewed through the perspective of engineer, says Montana State University optics researcher Joseph Shaw. Along with Rongguang Liang of the University of Arizona, Shaw chaired the ‘Light in Nature’ conference presenting new research in the field last month at SPIE Optics + Photonics and being published in the SPIE Digital Library.
There could soon be cheaper and more lightweight tools, such as goggles or hand-held devices, to identify tumours in real time in operating rooms as researchers have developed a dual-mode imaging technology, an improvement over single mode imaging.
American researchers developed a new technique that could help surgeons identify tumors in the body through a reasonable and more efficient process.
Using NIR fluorescence with visible light reflectance imaging can help surgeons pinpoint the exact location of tumors, making removal easier and safer.
Before they excise a tumor, surgeons need to determine exactly where the cancerous cells lie. Recognizing this, a team of researchers at the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) and Washington University in St. Louis (Missouri) has developed a multimodal imager that combines two systems—near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent imaging to detect marked cancer cells and visible light reflectance imaging to see the contours of the tissue itself—into a small, lightweight package that measures 25 mm across. The imager could lead to cheaper and more lightweight tools for surgeons, such as goggles or hand-held devices, to identify tumors in real time in the operating room.
Before they excise a tumor, surgeons need to determine exactly where the cancerous cells lie. Now, research published today in The Optical Society’s (OSA) journal Optics Letters details a new technique that could give surgeons cheaper and more lightweight tools, such as goggles or hand-held devices, to identify tumors in real time in the operating room.