Portable Microscope Uses Holograms Instead of Lens

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 1, 2011 @01:58PM from the discount-medical-supply dept.

Zothecula writes "While financial contributions are certainly a great help to health care practitioners in developing nations, one of the things that they really need is rugged, portable, low-cost medical equipment that is compatible with an often-limited local infrastructure. Several such devices are currently under development, such as a battery-powered surgical lamp, a salad-spinner-based centrifuge, and a baby-warmer that utilizes wax. UCLA is now working on another appropriate technology in the form of a small, inexpensive microscope that uses holograms instead of lenses to image what can't be seen by the human eye."

1 of 64 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:Infrastructure by johnstrass1 · 2011-09-01 14:26 · Score: 5, Informative

I am a physician and I work in africa sometimes. The real treat here is potentially using optics (confocal or OCT) to produce better contrast in a small package. Processing tissue for light microscopy requires a big lab; this device uses reflectance data, not transmission, making it ideal for a hunk of flesh