Nanotronics 3D Printed Microscope Capable of Capturing 3D Images at Nano-Scale

You may not have been following what will be going on at the American Chemical Society’s 2014 International Elastomer Conference running from October 14 – 16 in Nasheville, TN on your radar before, but you will probably want to after Nanotronics Imaging reveals what it has brought to the meeting: the nSPEC9® 3D.

No, this is not yet another boy band to make its debut on the pop scene via an elastomer conference. Instead, it is a piece of equipment that can capture 3D images on the nanoscale at the click of a mouse. It does this by harnessing the image purity of optical lenses and combining that with advanced computer pattern recognition algorithms. And, as if that weren’t enough, its housing is comprised of custom 3D printed hardware embedded with artificial intelligence.

Nanotronics is not new to the high tech scene. The company’s current portfolio includes the nSPEC® a fully automated, wafer analysis optical inspection system and the nPath® which is an automated, rapid scanning optical microscope. Nanotronics’ CEO, Matthew Putnam who boasts a PhD in Applied Physics and a position on the faculty of Columbia University, described the value of this latest innovation:

Putman

“Our solution will allow a host of industries, including industrial materials, semiconductors, and even biopharmaceuticals, to access sophisticated imaging that can improve their ability to produce and manipulate advanced materials quickly and efficiently.”

 

Not only is the technology impressive, the machine itself is a striking aesthetic experience. This is something that looks as if it might be found in the laboratory at the university of whatever planet ‘Alien’ came from. It was designed by Mari Kussman and Francis Bitonti, renowned fashion and product designers from New York, who helped the team at Nanotronics, not only with the microscope’s surface but also to push the boundaries of its functionality and agility.

The nSPEC 3D was not only the product of science and design, it has been used by artists, such as the multi-disciplinary Bruno Levy to explore new visuals and new media for expression. More conventionally, Flow Polymers has been an early user of the product as part of its process for improving the performance of its chemical dispersions.

“For three decades, Flow Polymers has produced additives and rubber chemical dispersions to improve mix quality and compound properties,” stated Michael Ivany, CEO of Flow Polymers. “We are excited by Nanotronics Imaging’s development of the nSPEC® 3D, as this instrument has the potential to help the industry optimize product performance, service life and uniformity. Until now we have not been able to identify an instrument that could adequately quantify the quality of mix.”

Booth #503 at the conference is sure to garner a great deal of interest as Nanotronics demonstrates Oculus Virtual Reality and Leap Motion gesture control to manipulate the 3D landscapes its latest creation can capture.  Are you headed to this conference?  Let us know your thoughts on this incredible technology in the 3D Printed Nanotronics Microscope forum thread on 3DPB.com.