Researchers from MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences have developed a new portable high-resolution 3D surface imaging system, called GelSight. It uses a slab of transparent, synthetic rubber with a metal-containing paint coated on one side. This side is pressed against the surface of an object, deforming the coated surface. Multiple cameras capture the image from the other side and with the help of computer-vision algorithms a detailed 3D image is reconstructed.
A first version was presented back in 2009, but in the mean time the device has been improved to capture physical features less than a micrometer in depth and about two micrometers across. A prototype sensor, about the size of a soda can, produces 3-D images almost instantly, which is a huge improvement over previous devices used for this kind of imaging such as confocal microscopes or white-light interferometers. The technique has many applications, from integrity checking for manufacturers to forensic investigations, but in medicine its main potential would be in dermatology. Surface characteristics of suspicious skin lesions could be captured with very high precision and could be reviewed in 3D from a computer. The video below provides some additional details:
Press release: Portable, super-high-resolution 3-D imaging…
Project page: GelSight…
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