Revolutionising imaging through an optical fibre the width of a human hair

A new imaging technique, allowing 3D imaging at video rates through a fibre the width of a human hair, could transform imaging for a wide range of applications in industrial inspection and environmental monitoring. In the longer term the technique could be further developed for applications in medical imaging. The system was developed by an international team of scientists led by the University of Glasgow's Optics Group. In a new paper published today in the journal Science , the team describe how they have been able to create video images from a single multimode optical fibre using a process known as time-of-flight 3D imaging. Professor Miles Padgett, Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Glasgow and Principal Investigator for QuantIC the UK Hub for Quantum Enhanced Imaging, said: "In applications like endoscopy and boroscopy imaging is traditionally achieved by using a bundle of optical fibres, one fibre for every pixel in the image, resulting in devices the thickness of a finger. "As an alternative, we are developing a new technique for imaging through a single fibre the width of a human hair. Our ambition is to create a new generation of single-fibre imaging devices that can produce 3D images of remote scenes.