New 3D Scanner Images Body in 10 Seconds Without Radiation

Imagine getting a full body scan in the time it takes to hold your breath, without any radiation exposure or giant magnetic tubes.

Researchers from USC and Caltech just made that possible. Their new imaging system, called RUS-PAT, combines sound waves and laser light to create detailed 3D pictures of both tissue and blood vessels across the entire body in about 10 seconds.

The technology addresses major frustrations with current medical imaging. MRI machines are expensive and slow. CT scans expose patients to radiation. Regular ultrasounds only show flat, 2D images. This new system avoids all those problems.

"You cannot understate the importance of medical imaging for clinical practice," said Dr. Charles Liu, professor of neurological surgery at USC and co-senior author of the study. "Our team has identified key limitations of existing techniques and developed a novel approach to address them."

The system works by sending sound waves through the body while also shining safe laser light on the same area. The sound waves create images of organs and tissues. The laser light gets absorbed by blood, which vibrates and creates its own sound signals that map out blood vessels in 3D.

To prove it works across different body parts, the team tested it on the brain, breast, hand, and foot. The results, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, show the scanner can capture a region up to 10 centimeters wide with impressive detail.

The Ripple Effect spreads across multiple areas of medicine. Brain imaging could help millions dealing with stroke, traumatic injury, and neurological diseases. Breast imaging supports care for one of the world's most common cancers. Foot scans could help the millions of people living with diabetes who face complications from poor circulation.

"This approach clearly has the potential to help clinicians identify at-risk limbs and inform interventions to preserve function in diabetic foot disease and other vascular conditions," said Dr. Tze-Woei Tan, who directs the Limb Salvage Research Program at USC.

The technology isn't ready for hospitals yet. The human skull still distorts some signals, making brain scans challenging without surgery. The Caltech team is working on adjustments to solve this problem, including changing the ultrasound frequencies they use.

But the proof of concept is clear. Medical imaging could soon be faster, safer, and available to far more people than ever before.