Researchers to Present Gigapixel Whole-Body Camera at OSA Annual Meeting
10/08/2014
A new “gigapixel whole-body photographic camera” may provide an option for tracking changes in potentially cancer skin lesions. Duke University researchers who developed the imaging technology will presenting it at the The Optical Society's (OSA) 98th Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics, Oct. 19-23 in Tucson, AZ.
Described as “three dozen cameras in one,” the camera has a structure similar to a telescope and its eyepieces, with a precise but simple objective lens that produces an imperfect image with known irregularities. The 34 microcameras are arranged in a “dome” to correct these aberrations and form a continuous image of the scene. The exposure time and focus for each microcamera can be adjusted independently, and a computer can do a preliminary examination of the images to determine if any areas require future attention by the specialists.
“The camera is designed to find lesions potentially indicating skin cancers on patients at an earlier stage than current skin examination techniques,” Daniel Marks, one of the co-authors on the paper, said in a statement. “Normally a dermatologist examines either a small region of the skin at high resolution or a large region at low resolution, but a gigapixel image doesn't require a compromise between the two.”
Dr. Marks pointed out that although the resolution of the gigapixel camera is not as high as the best dermatoscope, it is significantly better than normal photography, allows for a larger imaging area than a dermatoscope and could be used for telemedicine, which could make the routine screening available to a larger number of people, even in remote locations.
The gigapixel imaging technology is based on the multiscale camera design, which is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program “Advanced Wide Field-of-View Architectures for Image Reconstruction and Exploitation.”
Though the camera will still have to prove effective in clinical trials before becoming routinely available to patients, the researchers have gathered enough preliminary data on a healthy volunteer to demonstrate that it has adequate resolution and the field of view needed for skin disease screening. The next step, they say, is to test how well it works in the clinic.
Described as “three dozen cameras in one,” the camera has a structure similar to a telescope and its eyepieces, with a precise but simple objective lens that produces an imperfect image with known irregularities. The 34 microcameras are arranged in a “dome” to correct these aberrations and form a continuous image of the scene. The exposure time and focus for each microcamera can be adjusted independently, and a computer can do a preliminary examination of the images to determine if any areas require future attention by the specialists.
“The camera is designed to find lesions potentially indicating skin cancers on patients at an earlier stage than current skin examination techniques,” Daniel Marks, one of the co-authors on the paper, said in a statement. “Normally a dermatologist examines either a small region of the skin at high resolution or a large region at low resolution, but a gigapixel image doesn't require a compromise between the two.”
Dr. Marks pointed out that although the resolution of the gigapixel camera is not as high as the best dermatoscope, it is significantly better than normal photography, allows for a larger imaging area than a dermatoscope and could be used for telemedicine, which could make the routine screening available to a larger number of people, even in remote locations.
The gigapixel imaging technology is based on the multiscale camera design, which is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program “Advanced Wide Field-of-View Architectures for Image Reconstruction and Exploitation.”
Though the camera will still have to prove effective in clinical trials before becoming routinely available to patients, the researchers have gathered enough preliminary data on a healthy volunteer to demonstrate that it has adequate resolution and the field of view needed for skin disease screening. The next step, they say, is to test how well it works in the clinic.
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