NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has manufactured a 3D camera just 4 millimeters in diameter and 15 millimeters long , with the ability to produce three-dimensional images from inside the brain to aid in surgeries. more invasive and complex.
The device in question has been baptized as Marvel ( Multi Angle Rear Viewing Endoscopic tooL ) and has obtained the Outstanding Technology Development award from the Consortium of Federal Laboratories pending that the next clinical prototype meets the requirements of the Food and Drug Administration for be able to start using it normally.
“As one of the smallest 3D cameras in the world, Marvel is designed for minimally invasive brain surgery ,” explains Harish Manohara, project leader.
Its operation is very simple: a flexible “neck” with a single camera lens is inserted into the skull that can operate sideways at an angle of 120 degrees , offering you great maneuverability and eliminating the traditional open craniotomy, since It can be operated directly from within the brain.
To generate 3D images, the camera has two openings as if they were the pupil of the eye, each with its own color filter . These color filters transmit different wavelengths of red, green, and blue light, blocking the bands to which the other filter is sensitive. All the generated images are stitched together and thus the 3D effect is created.
As for other applications, such as the geological exploration of other planets, “you could apply a zoom function and obtain close-up images that show the roughness of the rock surface and other microscopic details,” Manohara clarifies.
