Researchers have developed a new type of microscope that can acquire extremely large, high-resolution pictures of non-flat objects in a single snapshot. This innovation could speed up research and medical diagnostics or be useful in quality inspection applications.
“Although traditional microscopes assume the sample is perfectly flat, real-life samples such as tissue sections, plant samples or flexible materials may be curved, tilted or uneven,” said research team leader Roarke Horstmeyer from Duke University.
“With our approach, it’s possible to adjust the focus across the sample, so that everything remains in focus even if the sample surface isn’t flat, while avoiding slow scanning or expensive special lenses.”