Scientists at the University of Oxford, U.K., have developed a method to capture a high-resolution still image alongside high-speed video. By combining off-the-shelf technologies found in standard cameras and digital movie projectors, the researchers have created a tool that could transform many forms of detailed scientific imaging and provide access to high-speed video with high-resolution still images from the same camera at a price suitable for the consumer market. The technology, which could have applications ranging from CCTV to sports photography, already is attracting interest from the scientific imaging sector, where the ability to capture high-quality still images that correspond exactly to high-speed video is highly desirable but currently very expensive.<\/p>\n
During studies of the human heart, researchers in the Cardiac Mechano-Electric Feedback Group<\/strong> in Oxford’s department of physiology, anatomy, and genetics used sophisticated imaging and computer technologies to create an animated model of the heart that can be viewed from all angles. They combined information about heart structure and function using powerful computers and advanced optical imaging tools — a process that requires a combination of speed and detail, which is difficult to achieve using current photographic techniques. Gil Bub, PhD, senior research fellow on the team, developed a solution that joins high-resolution still images and high-speed video footage at the same time on the same camera chip “by allowing the camera’s pixels to act as if they were part of tens, or even hundreds, of individual cameras taking pictures in rapid succession during a single normal exposure,” he explains. The pixels are divided into groups and programmed to take their part of the bigger picture in well-controlled succession during the time normally required to take a single snapshot. “The trick is that the pattern of pixel exposures keeps the high resolution content of the overall image, which can then be used as-is to form a regular high-res picture or be decoded into a high-speed movie,” Bub adds. The researchers described the technology in Nature Methods<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n The concept already has attracted the attention of Cairn Research, a U.K.-based scientific instrument manufacturer, and may soon move from the optical bench to a consumer-friendly package. Mark Pitter, senior research fellow in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Nottingham, U.K., plans to compress the technology into an all-in-one sensor that could be placed inside normal cameras. “The use of a custom-built solid state sensor will allow us to design compact and simple cameras, microscopes, and other optical devices” that may be used for applications such as consumer cameras and security systems, Pitter says. Isis Innovations, Oxford’s TTO, has patented the technology and is seeking commercial partners.<\/p>\n