Optical devices like telescopes and microscopes have relied on solid lenses that slide up and down to magnify and to focus. To tune how much light is received, conventional devices use mechanical contraptions like the blades that form the adjustable aperture in cameras. Engineers from the University of Freiburg in Germany have built a novel type of imaging system inspired by the elegance and relative mechanical simplicity of the human eye. The technology may one day lead to new imaging instruments and microscopes for use in medicine and scientific research, such as devices for detecting early signs of skin cancer or early visual cues for food spoilage.
The new imaging system is the first to demonstrate the imaging capabilities of some of these unusual focusing techniques by replacing conventional, solid lenses with the combination of a malleable lens and a liquid iris-like component. And the device focuses light almost as well as its biological counterpart in people.
For their new device, the researchers used two imaging elements that they had demonstrated previously but had never combined into a single system. They made a lens of silicone surrounded by several miniaturized motors that adjust the focus by deforming the lens.
The cylindrical device is roughly three centimeters in diameter and five centimeters long, and although the researchers plan to shrink the design a bit more, making a miniature version isn't their primary goal, since optical quality is inherently limited with smaller sizes. Instead, the researchers hope to add more functionality.
