New fast-working microscope to tackle melanoma
A team of German researchers has developed a new type of microscope that could help us better understand skin conditions like melanoma. The team, from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (IOF) in Jena, Germany, ascertain that the new device can produce high-resolution images of skin areas of any size, unlike conventional microscopes that are restricted to producing images of one small area at a time. This new equipment can help doctors understand how changes in the skin could serve as warning signs for melanoma. The new tool is also a fast worker, providing results in just a few fractions of a second, according to the team. And despite these fast reaction times, quality is not sacrificed to speed - even when the doctor is holding the microscope in his or her hand, the resulting pictures are not blurred. The microscope allows examinations up to a resolution of five micrometres; due to an optical length of just 5.3 millimetres, it is also extremely flat and lightweight. These features move forward the capabilities of traditional microscopes: slowly sweeping the surface of the skin point by point before recording numerous images and bringing them together to make a complete picture, their jigsaw puzzle-like method can be laborious and time consuming. As it needs to make just a single measurement, the new microscope can work incredibly fast while still recording over a broad surface area, bringing together the best parts of both types of microscope. 'Essentially, we can examine a field as large as we want,' comments Dr Frank Wippermann from the IOF. 'At five micrometres, the resolution is similar to that of a scanner.' Dr Frank Wippermann also explains how the microscope works: 'Our ultrathin microscope consists of not just one but a multitude of tiny imaging channels, with lots of tiny lenses arrayed alongside one another. Each channel records a tiny segment of the object at the same size for a 1:1 image.' Each slice is roughly 300 µm² x 300 µm² in size and fits seamlessly alongside the neighbouring slice. Then a computer programme pieces these slices together simultaneously to create an overall picture. The imaging system consists of three glass plates with the tiny lenses applied to them, both on top and underneath. These three glass plates are then stacked on top of one another, and channel also contains two achromatic lenses: the light therefore passes through a total of eight lenses. There are several stages involved in the application of lenses to glass substrates. Firstly, the scientists must coat a glass plate with photo-resistant emulsion and expose this to UV light through a mask. These portions exposed to the light will become hardened. The plate is then placed in a special solution and all that remains on the surface are lots of tiny cylinders of photoresist as the rest of the coating dissolves away. Finally, the researchers heat the glass plate which results in the melting of the cylinders, leaving spherical lenses. Working from this master tool, the researchers can then generate an inverse tool that they use as a die which can be used to launch mass production of the lenses. A first prototype has already been made and the team say that in the future this microscope could even be used for ensuring that documents are authentic.For more information, please visit:Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF:http://www.iof.fraunhofer.de/index_e.html
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Germany