cues to guide them during delicate procedures. But shrimp could provide some help on that front as well.
“[Mantis shrimp] seem to be very particular about the way they gather information, both in terms of color and polarization,” says Marshall. “They wave their eyes around in order to push their sensor over the world, a bit like a satellite scanning. There may be some tricks in there that we can borrow from as well.”
Marshall thinks the sensor may be used to screen patients for colon cancer first, as that's a specific area his team has been working on and one where the size and complexity of other polarized imaging cameras has been a problem in the past. Simpler polarization scopes are already being used to check for skin cancer in Australia, where two in three people are diagnosed with the disease before the age of 70. The researchers are also experimenting with using polarized light to increase tissue contrast to help doctors tell where to start and stop cutting during surgery.
Because the shrimp-inspired chip is so compact and easy to use, the technology could make its way into portable devices and even smartphones. If it does, Marshall says, people could one day self-monitor for cancers and reduce the burden on overloaded healthcare systems.
While there is plenty of potential in the polarized imaging technology, Gruev says there is still a lot of work to be done, both in incorporating color sensing and in refining the sensitivity of the polarization detection to increase resolution and make it even better at detecting serious illnesses early.
“We are just scratching the surface of how we can look at biology and construct imaging systems that can help in the diagnosis of cancer and other diseases,” he says.