Researchers have found a way to use devices no thicker than a human hair to see into the most difficult parts of the body to reach, according to new research.
The fiber-optic devices were already developed, but attempts to use them have always resulted in scrambled, unreadable signals. Because of that, the imaging of the area being surveyed is lost.
But now, scientists at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland have found a way to “decode” the signals so they could get a clear picture.
Specifically, the scientists found that once they could more narrowly analyze the random light within the fiber, they could predict the way the images are scrambled.
The discovery could pave the way for minimally invasive techniques in neuroscience and other kinds of medicine and science where the area being surveyed is delicate or hard to reach.
The research was conducted by Dr Tomáš Čižmár, Research Fellow in the School of Medicine, and Professor Kishan Dholakia of the School of Physics and Astronomy.
