News


Nikon acquires retinal imaging company Optos


Nikon has purchased Scottish medical imaging company Optos for £259.3 million. Te purchase follows Nikon setting aside $1.96 billion last year for mergers and acquisitions in medical and other growth fields. Optos provides retinal imaging


devices for eyecare professionals. For the year ended 30 September 2014, the Optos Group generated revenue of approximately US$170.6 million and operating profit of approximately US$16.3 million. Optos’ core devices produce


ultra-widefield, high resolution digital images (Optomap) of approximately 82 per cent and 200° of the retina. An optomap image gives more clinical information which facilitates the early detection and treatment of disorders and diseases in the retina, such as retinal detachments and tears, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. Retinal imaging can also indicate evidence of non-eye diseases. Te proposed acquisition of


Optos is an important step in Nikon’s strategic growth initiative, which includes working in the medical sector. Te purchase establishes a major footprint in the medical segment; it gives collaboration opportunities in product development, research, manufacturing and marketing; and it is a platform to expand Nikon’s regenerative medical business. Commenting on the transaction,


Kazuo Ushida, president of Nikon, said: ‘I am confident that an Optos/ Nikon combination would create a world class “retina” player and would significantly benefit our respective stakeholders.’


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Snow imager developed to improve road safety


A high-speed camera system has been developed by the University of Utah in the United States to image freefalling snowflakes with a means to improving road safety. Developed with support from the National


Science Foundation (NSF), the camera system is a commercialised version of a multi-angle snowflake camera built three years ago for scientific purposes. Tis next-generation model is designed


for use by departments of transportation to anticipate road conditions. ‘Right now the problem in the transportation


safety sector is to understand exactly what’s falling out of the sky,’ said engineer Cale Fallgatter, who has an award from the NSF Small Business Technology Transfer programme to commercialise the system. ‘Our goal was to come up with a game- changing instrument based on new technology to compete with what is currently out there.’ Transportation departments nationwide


temperatures hover near the freezing point. Using precipitation research from


atmospheric scientist Timothy Garrett, who developed the original multi-angle snowflake camera with Fallgatter, the technology can resolve falling particles down to the diameter of a human hair and also measure the speed at which they fall. ‘Personally, it’s really exciting, because not


only did we build something that will reach a wider market, but the instrument is a big advance scientifically,’ Garrett said. ‘Te trick is to develop existing technology and sell it for one-tenth the price.’ By using off-the-shelf products


Right now the


problem is to understand exactly what’s falling out of the sky


use camera and sensor systems to collect and analyse data from weather stations to gauge road conditions. Tey help determine snowplough routes and preventative salting decisions. However, current instruments do not


provide enough detail for authorities to get a firm grasp on conditions, especially when


4 Imaging and Machine Vision Europe • April/May 2015


instead of custom-made pieces, the new camera system − called the Present Weather Imager − has 1.3 megapixels, is industrial grade and is priced to compete. Te team also redesigned


the lighting system. While the original version used motion-


activated LED lighting, the new prototype has a xenon-based lighting system with an infrared filter, which doesn’t interfere with people’s vision on roads at night. A built-in computer is used to classify the precipitation. In the near future, the researchers plan to


include an option for either a single camera or two-camera system, the latter of which would produce 3D images, and give users an even more comprehensive view of each flake.


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