Combining the best features of a lobster and an African fish, University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers have created an artificial eye that sees in the dark. The technology could help brighten the dim surroundings presented from surgical scopes.

Elephantnosed fish have retinas composed of thousands of tiny crystal cups, instead of the smooth surfaces common to most animals. The miniature vessels collect and intensify red light, which helps the fish discern its predators.

Hongrui Jiang, professor of electrical and computer and biomedical engineering at UW–Madison, and his team emulated the fish’s crystal cups by engineering thousands of minuscule parabolic mirrors, each as tall as a grain of pollen. The researchers then shaped arrays of the light-collecting structures across the surface of a uniform hemispherical dome. The arrangement, inspired by the superposition compound eyes of lobsters, concentrates incoming light to individual spots, further increasing intensity.

The device, which picked up a picture of UW–Madison’s Bucky Badger mascot through what seemed like pitch-black darkness, could be incorporated into existing systems to visualize a variety of vistas under low light.

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