A team of UC Berkeley bioengineers have created a series of artificial compound eyes, using the eyes of insects (dragonflies, houseflies) as models. These artificial compound eyes will eventually be used cameras or sensory detectors to capture visual or chemical information from a wider field of vision than previously possible. Potential applications of this invention include

• surveillance
• high-speed motion detection
• environmental sensing
• medical procedures, such as endoscopies and image-guided surgeries that require cameras
• and varrious clinical treatments that can be controlled by implanted light delivery devices

They are the first hemispherical, three-dimensional optical systems to integrate microlens arrays - thousands of tiny lenses packed side by side - with self-aligned, self-written waveguides, that is, light-conducting channels that themselves have been created by beams of light, said Lee, the Lloyd Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley.

These eyes are fully described for the first time in the April 28 issue of the journal Science. Read more at UC Berkeley News. Photo Credit: [www.materialkemi.lth.se]

About the author: Gloria is a Chemist and is the author of 2 science blogs: Straight From The Doc and The Pharm Voice.