I had the honor and privilege of chairing a conference titled “Emerging DMD-Based Systems and Applications” on Wednesday, January 28 at SPIE Photonics West (January 24 to 29, 2009 in San Jose, CA). I thought I knew what was going on with our DLP Discovery kits but apparently not. There is nothing like getting in a room full of experts to make you feel humble about how little you really know. The conference had 19 papers presented in 4 sessions.
Session 1 – Photomedical Applications for Advanced Research and Improved Patient Care – was by far the best attended of the 4 sessions with 45-50 attendees per paper. - Dr. Skip Garner (UT Southwestern Medical Center – Dallas) kicked off the session showing how his team was using a DLP system to study cell structures and explore ways to manipulate cells. - Mr. Daniel Reiley (Calhoun Vision) is using a DLP system to improve the vision of patients after lens replacement surgery using a Light Adjustable Lens. (Commercial sales began last year.) - Dr. Steven Neale (UC Berkeley) is using a DLP system to trap and manipulate HeLa cells. - Mr. Alexandre Fong (Optronic Labs) is using a DLP-based system to shape the spectrum of light to aid research on human color vision. - Dr. Karel Zuzak (UT Arlington) is using a DLP hyperspectral imaging system for visualizing chemical composition of in vivo tissues during surgical procedures non-invasively and at near video rate.
I am giving Dr. Zuzak the award for having the most interesting and impactful video at our conference. If you’re interested you can view the video (pig kidney surgery) on YouTube. Be sure to watch all the way to the end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz46ynbLrx0
Session 2 – Hyperspectral Imaging and Multi-Object Sensing – was a close second as far as attendance (42-46 per paper) but equally interesting. - Dr. Steven Love (Los Alamos National Lab) is using DMDs to remotely detect, identify, and quantify a multitude of materials and chemicals. With a prototype UV-Vis instrument, he can upload a chemical-specific spectral matched filter directly to the DMD, producing an image showing the location of that chemical without further processing. - Dr. Neil Goldstein (Spectral Sciences) presented a paper discussing a DMD-based adaptive spectral imager for hyperspectral imagery and direct detection of spectral signatures. - Dr. Kevin Kelly (Rice University) has developed some impressive image compression techniques using a DMD-based system. He showed the images captured with a single pixel camera. - Dr. Massimo Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute) discussed how he can use a DMD-based system to simultaneously obtain spectra of thousands of sources randomly positioned in the field of view of a telescope. - Dr. Jonathan Neumann (Naval Research Lab) presented preliminary results of a DLP system capable of judiciously selecting which hyperspectral data are collected and processed. This allows for the tracking of multiple objects spread over the entire field.
That is probably enough to absorb in one sitting. I’ll cover the other 2 sessions in my next posting. I found these discussions extremely interesting. The authors were passionate about the work they are doing. I truly felt that their work was more than just product development. They are trying to positively impact our quality of life with DLP technology. I was particularly impressed by the personal stories shared by many of the authors. For example, Daniel Reiley started his presentation with a picture of his father smiling. He was smiling because his eye sight was saved due to cataract surgery. Daniel was passionate about Calhoun Vision’s new Light Adjustable Lens product because it will allow more people to get sight saving surgery…faster, cheaper, and better.
When we first developed the DMD in the late-1980s we had no idea what applications may be possible. Our focus was primarily on printers, projectors, and displays. The DLP Discovery kits are enabling some very creative people to develop a new generation of applications beyond our wildest imaginations.
I will have more next month. Until then, keep those ideas coming. I want to know what’s going on out there.
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