Photonics/​Optics

Optimizing Illumination for qPCR Diagnostics — Design Considerations

A complete optical path minimizes signal crosstalk between detection channels.

Photonic Technology Enables Fast, Sensitive COVID-19 Test

A new low-cost portable instrument manipulates light and fluid for fast and reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva samples. Although still in the research stage, the new...

Wearable Head Scanner Allows Mobility During Brain Scans

Researchers have proposed a solution to both clearly visualize and accurately assess the brain via photoacoustic imaging.

Quantum 'Stopwatch' Can Improve Imaging Technologies

University of Colorado Boulder researchers have designed one of the most precise stopwatches – not for timing Olympic sprinters but for counting single photons, the tiny packets of...

Tiny Wireless Device Illuminates Neuron Activity in the Brain

Researchers are creating new tools for a method called optogenetics, which shines light at specific neurons in the brain to excite or suppress activity.

UV Sensors for Wearables Are Flexible, Sensitive

To make ultraviolet (UV)-detecting wearables, scientists have created a new type of light sensor that is both flexible and highly sensitive.

Tiny Implantable Tool for Light-Sheet Imaging of Brain Activity

The tool shows promise for imaging brain activity in 3D with high speed and contrast.

Ultra-Sensitive, Small Optomechanical Ultrasound Sensor

An optomechanical ultrasound sensor on a silicon photonic chip provides unprecedented sensitivity due to an innovative optomechanical waveguide.

Microcomb Could Detect Diseases

Tiny photonic devices could be used to monitor a person’s health.

Surface Waves Help Nanostructured Devices Keep Cool

The surface waves provide a thermal transport solution.

Wireless Retinal Implant Restores Visual Field for the Blind

EPFL researchers have developed a new type of retinal implant for people who have become blind due to the loss of photoreceptor cells in their retinas.

Leading Women in Engineering & Science: Jennifer Kehlet Barton, Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Professor, Biomedical Engineering; Director, BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona

Barton's lab designs miniature endoscopes for the early detection of ovarian cancer.

Spiderwebs Inspire 3D Photodectors

Researchers used some architectural features from spiderwebs to develop 3D photodetectors for biomedical imaging.

Large-Area Flexible Organic Photodiodes

The technologies may enable wearable health monitors to produce improved physiological information and continuous monitoring without frequent battery changes.

Low Latency Manufacturing for Biophotonics and Medical Device Packaging

Machine-to-machine communication, deep learning, XR, and AI are all going to have an extraordinary will require low-latency manufacturing.

New Products and Services: August 2020 Medical Design Briefs

Shielding materials, static control, 3D printing software, and more.

Photonic Radiation Sensors Survive Huge Doses Undamaged

Landmark test results suggest a promising class of sensors can be used in high-radiation environments and to advance important medical, industrial, and research applications.

Imaging Innovation for Spinal Care

Motion capture (Mocap) is a technique used in the film industry to digitally track a human actor's movements and precisely transfer those motions to an animated figure. But it has other applications as...

Retinal Prosthesis Stimulates Nerve Cells

Fabricated using inexpensive and widely available organic pigments used in printing inks and cosmetics, an artificial retina was developed that consists of tiny pixels like a digital camera sensor on...

New Laser Pulses Faster Than Usual Ultrafast Light

A new electro-optic laser imposes microwave electronic vibrations on a continuous-wave laser operating at optical frequencies, effectively carving pulses into the light. Probing...

New Camera Gives Surgeons a Butterfly's-Eye View of Cancer

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis have developed a surgical camera inspired by the eye of the morpho butterfly. The...

Micro Devices Deliver Big Blood Results

RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
www.rmit.edu.au

When you’re working with a fluid as hypersensitive as blood, it pays to have specialists on board.

Photodetector to Improve Night Vision, Thermal Sensing

Using graphene, one of science's most versatile materials, engineers from the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering have invented a new type of photodetector that can work with more types...

Scientists Create Continuously Emitting Microlasers With Nanoparticle-Coated Beads

Researchers have found a way to convert nanoparticle-coated microscopic beads into lasers smaller than red blood cells. These microlasers, which convert...

Engineers Design Color-Changing Compression Bandage

Compression therapy is a standard form of treatment for patients who suffer from venous ulcers and other conditions in which veins struggle to return blood from the lower extremities....

World's Smallest Optical Implantable Biodevice Controls Brain Patterns

Japanese researchers describe a new implantable device no bigger than the width of a coin that can be used to control brain patterns. The device, which can be read about...

Improving Mid-Infrared Imaging and Sensing

A new way of taking images in the mid-infrared part of the spectrum, developed by researchers at MIT and elsewhere, could enable a wide variety of applications, including thermal imaging, biomedical...

Depth-Sensing Imaging System Can Peer Through Fog

An inability to handle misty driving conditions has been one of the chief obstacles to the development of autonomous vehicular navigation systems that use visible light. These systems are...