Blood flow-imaging watch lets you see inside your body on-the-go

Photoacoustic imaging systems provide a high-resolution glimpse into the body, but they’re bulky. Now, researchers have developed a miniaturized version that fits into a watch, with hardware contained in a backpack that’s the same weight as the average… Continue reading Blood flow-imaging watch lets you see inside your body on-the-go

Ultrafast photoacoustic imaging provides new insights into brain function

Scientists at Duke University have developed an ultrafast photoacoustic imaging system capable of capturing the functional and molecular changes that occur in major brain disorders.Continue ReadingCategory: Medical, ScienceTags: Medical Imaging, Photoa… Continue reading Ultrafast photoacoustic imaging provides new insights into brain function

3D finger-vein ID tech claimed to be virtually foolproof

It sometimes seems that as soon as another form of biometric ID authentication is developed, someone devises a way of fooling it. According to its creators, however, a new 3D finger vein-scanning system cannot be duped.Continue ReadingCategory: Science… Continue reading 3D finger-vein ID tech claimed to be virtually foolproof

Laser "pinging" shows promise for fast and cheap water testing

Looking for impurities in drinking water or other liquids typically involves chemical analysis, which may be time-consuming. Now, however, scientists have created an inexpensive system in which light – that’s converted to sound – is used to i… Continue reading Laser "pinging" shows promise for fast and cheap water testing

Those Voices in Your Head Might be Lasers

What if I told you that you can get rid of your headphones and still listen to music privately, just by shooting lasers at your ears?

The trick here is something called the photoacoustic effect. When certain materials absorb light — or any electromagnetic radiation — that is either pulsed or modulated in intensity, the material will give off a sound. Sometimes not much of a sound, but a sound. This effect is useful for spectroscopy, biomedical imaging, and the study of photosynthesis. MIT researchers are using this effect to beam sound directly into people’s ears. It could lead to …read more

Continue reading Those Voices in Your Head Might be Lasers