There are inconvenient tools that can be used in conventional dental photography. Basic teeth images from various angles are required by dentists. Patients feel uncomfortable because they have to put a mirror in the mouth to get the reflected teeth image.
A dental camera can be used to take a picture of the teeth. Due to the restricted depth of field and field-of-view, the conventional device is unable to observe tooth decay in detail and capture the entire arrangement of teeth.
Wide viewing angle and large depth of field are some of the features of compound insect eyes. Bug-inspired cameras can solve the problems of conventional compact cameras, such as limited observation range, because they are inspired by insects. There are drawbacks to previously developed insect cameras.
A novel wide-angle insect eye camera has been developed by researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The device was used to demonstrate various functional images to meet clinical needs.
The BIOC involves a new configuration of a lens and an image sensor on a printed circuit board. The field of view can be increased by up to 142 degrees with the help of the iMLAs. The new camera is able to overcome many chronic issues of conventional cameras, such as limited depth-of-field, thick total-track-length, and limited functional images.
The thinness of the dental camera makes it possible to see teeth even in narrow areas. The insect vision feature of infinite depth of field can be used to achieve clear dental images. High dynamic range, 3D depth, and autofluorescence are some of the dental images offered by the BIOC.
The authors hope that the novel wide-angle insect eye camera contributes not only to technical advances in biomedical engineering societies but that it also has significant impacts on such diverse vision applications. They think that applications will continue to expand in the future.
More information: Kisoo Kim et al, Biologically inspired intraoral camera for multifunctional dental imaging, Journal of Optical Microsystems (2022). DOI: 10.1117/1.JOM.2.3.031202
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