Spy cameras are supposed to be tiny in order for them to be unnoticeable in most situations but a new camera from the University of Stuttgart takes the crown as it can fit through a syringe.
The new three-lens camera was developed by German engineers from the University of Stuttgart. It was made possible thanks to the advancement of technology in 3D printing.
While it could pass for the best spy camera ever, the practical application for the super tiny camera is designed for the medical industry. Doctors can inject the camera to a patient using a syringe and the data will be sent back using a 5.6-foot optical fiber that is as thin as two strands of hair, PC Magazine has learned.
The tiny camera is just 120 micrometers wide and it is still capable of capturing photos up to 3mm away from its lenses. It can help immensely in diagnosing diseases that require doctors to look inside a patient's body without having to operate on them.
Overall, the camera is claimed to be smaller than a grain of salt. The engineers managed to make the camera using ultrashort laser pulses firing into a liquid during the 3D printing phase, Forbes reported.
Other applications of the miniature technology include illumination systems and other tiny robots and drones. Timo Gissibl, one of the engineers who made the tiny camera, said that drones smaller than a bee can be possible in the near future as technology progresses even more.
The tech could also open up more opportunities for covert surveillance operations. These miniature drones and robots could be the spies themselves as they can be hard to detect by an untrained set of eyes.
There was also another tiny robot developed by a separate group of researchers in May. These researchers made an "ingestible origami robot" that can heal a patient from the inside of their body thanks to its capabilities of being remote controlled by external magnetic fields.
The engineers also claim that it took them only several hours to completely design, manufacture and test the tiny spy camera. They believe that it is a game changer in the tech industry.