MST Researchers Develop See Through Handheld Camera To Detect Cancer

Dr. Reza Zoughi of Missouri University Of Science & Technology and his team have developed a see-through camera that can look through walls and dense objects. This patented camera uses millimeter and microwave signals to see through the objects in real time. The signals produced by this camera are processed via software installed on laptop to produce the output image. The research has earned Dr. Zoughi the prestigious Joseph F. Keithley Award from IEEE.

D. Zoughi finds immense use of this technology, especially in critical inspection projects, cancer detection and even in aviation to detecting termites in your sofa. One of the immediate use would be finding faults in the thermal insulating materials. In medicine, this technology can find out deep skin conditions, cancer cells and burns. One of the obvious use would be at the airport in full body security scanners.

The camera captures images at 30 images/sec via at different planes in front of the object. The system consumes very less power and can last for several hours on a laptop battery.  The researchers say that the microwaves are non-ionizing in nature (unlike X-rays) and therefore may cause heating effect. Dr. Zoughi first got the idea of creating such a device when he was on a sabbatical in France. He says the team wants to develop 3D holographic camera that will operate in real time on the similar principle.



The current limitation of the camera is that it requires a sensor to be put on the opposite size of the camera and the object must pass through the sensor and camera. The research is being carried out to develop single-sided version of it.

However, this limitation should make us happy. Imagine when this technology hits the iPhone and Android in the form of apps. And eventually, it will. Until then, our best bet is to get our bodies toned. Time to hit the gym!