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Researchers Develop ‘Metamaterial’ Lens
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A development put forth by researchers at the University of Sydney provides a more powerful tool for those in the biological sciences realm, a lens with ten times the resolution of any lens currently on the market.
In an article published in Nature Communications, one of the researchers, Alessandro Tuniz, was quoted as saying; “The advance means we can unlock previously inaccessible information on the structure of molecules, their chemical make-up and the presence of certain proteins.”
With the development of the new lens it is believed that the tool could open new doors in the area of biological research and even allow for “earlier skin cancer diagnosis because smaller melanomas can be recognized. For breast cancer, it can also be used to more accurately check that all traces of a tumor have been cut out during surgery,” the researchers noted.
A fiber optic manufacturing technology was used to make the lens, which is of a metamaterial, a material that is made up of properties not found in nature. The manufacture of the lens was more than a matter of taking an existing lens and making it better. The technology involved making a lens that utilizes light waves in a way never before imagined.
Researcher Boris Kuhlmey was quoted in the Nature Communications article as saying; “Creating metamaterials is a cutting-edge area of science with a massive range of potential uses from aerospace to solar power, telecommunications to defense.” The metamaterial could also be used in wireless Internet and MRI applications.
The challenge faced by the manufacturer of these lenses is to make them on a scale that is useful in medical technologies. Researchers note that “this is one of the first times that a metamaterial with real world application has been feasible.” Terahertz microscopes, these are ten times more powerful than current microscopes, will be able to utilize the metamaterial being developed.
It was more than a decade ago that researchers uncovered the potential of the new metamaterial but it has taken this long to develop the lens on a size that is of a more usable scale. The new lenses are 1,000 times smaller than the experimental models that were developed in the early stages of the research.
The new lens, which is constructed of metal and plastic, will use terahertz waves and electromagnet waves with frequencies “higher than microwaves but lower than infrared radiation and visible light.” The lens will operate in a spectrum of light where very few optical tools are available, and those that are available suffer in terms of resolution. As a comparison, Tuniz was quoted as saying, “If we think of this in comparison to an X-ray which allows us to see inside objects of high resolution but with associated danger from radiation, by contrast the metamaterial lens allows us to not only see through opaque materials but to gather information on its chemical composition… without the danger of X-rays.”
Universe Optics, a manufacturer of standard and custom lens assemblies for medical imaging and diagnostic cameras.