A new high-speed camera is being developed which will allow light and sound to be used in new innovative medical treatments.
The camera, developed at the Rosalind Franklin Institute, should allow researchers to capture images at one-hundred million frames per second.
Shooting at such high speeds will allow researchers to unlock unparalleled detail allowing a better understanding of the mechanisms around treatments work. For the first time researchers will be able to see incredibly rapid processes unfolding at a microscopic level.
Professor Eleanor Stride – speaking to Digital Trends – explained that “understanding the mechanisms by which drugs can be efficiently distributed throughout a tumour may hold the key to developing effective treatments”.
Existing tech lacks the speed and resolution of the new technology to see how sound and light interact with human tissue. Currently, similar cameras can only capture images at a measly 25 million frames per second compared to the new technology which boasts 100 million individual frames per second.
Better still the camera has an effective resolution of one-megapixel and can capture light from the infrared to ultraviolet spectrum.
The cost of the technology isn’t cheap. The sensor alone costs around £1.5 million, with the optics adding another £3 million to the build.
While the hefty price tag might seem extreme; the camera can be used for multiple applications. From exploring how effective cancer treatments are to better improving the early-stage treatments of atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
The team at the Rosalind Franklin Institute hope to have a working prototype together in two years and bringing the final build online in three.
The project is a joint venture between the University of Cambridge, the University of Manchester, and Imperial College London.
Watch Our Born to Engineer Video Featuring Biomedical Engineer Eleanor Stride
Eleanor works to create and control micro-bubbles which can be injected into the bloodstream of cancer patients, magnetically guided to the site of the cancer and then burst using ultrasound, releasing the chemotherapy drugs at the site of the cancer.
