So, many of you might not remember this guy over here, Olympus’ E-330 DSLR. But, when this 7.5 megapixel shooter debuted back in January of 2006, it was the first DSLR to offer live view, the ability to view off-the-sensor on the back LCD. At the time it was dismissed as a novelty, a sort of solution with no problem. Obviously, times have changed and now almost everyone and their brother are putting live view into DSLRs (to be fair, its usefulness is still just as hotly debated).

And, now the E-330 gets another feather in its cap, having been used by researchers at Rice University to distinguish cancerous cells from healthy ones. Now, Olympus is certainly no stranger to the medical world (its a large manufacturer of medical imaging equipment as is), but even so this has to be a bit exciting.

In the new study, the team captured images of cells with a small bundle of fiber-optic cables attached to a $400 Olympus E-330 camera. When imaging tissues, Richards-Kortum’s team applied a common fluorescent dye that caused cell nuclei in the samples to glow brightly when lighted with the tip of the fiber-optic bundle. Three tissue types were tested: cancer cell cultures that were grown in a lab, tissue samples from newly resected tumors and healthy tissue viewed in the mouths of patients.

Well, how about that? And, if you’re wondering why mod a four year old DSLR to do this:

“Consumer-grade cameras can serve as powerful platforms for diagnostic imaging,” said Rice’s Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the study’s lead author. “Based on portability, performance and cost, you could make a case for using them both to lower health care costs in developed countries and to provide services that simply aren’t available in resource-poor countries.”

Hit the external link for the full statement from Rice. Kudos, Rice, and congrats, Oly.