Facile assembly of an affordable miniature multicolor fluorescence microscope made of 3D-printed parts enables detection of single cells

Abstract

18Fluorescence microscopy is one of the workhorses of biomedical research and laboratory diagnosis;19 however, their cost, size, maintenance, and fragility has prevented their adoption in developing countries 20 or low-resource settings. Although significant advances have decreased their size, cost and accessibility, 21 their designs and assembly remain rather complex. Here, inspired on the simple mechanism from a nut and 22 a bolt we report the construction of a portable fluorescence microscope that operates in bright field mode 23 and in three fluorescence channels: UV, green, and red. It is assembled in under 10 min from only six 3D 24printed parts and basic electronic components that can be readily purchased in most locations or online for 25 US $85. Adapting a microcomputer and a touch LCD screen, the microscope can capture time-lapse images 26 and videos. We characterized its resolution and illumination conditions and benchmarked its performance 27 against a high-end fluorescence microscope by tracking a biological process in single cells. We also 28 demonstrate its application to image cells inside a microfluidic device in bright-field and fluorescence 29 mode. Our microscope fits in a CO 2 chamber and can be operated in time-lapse mode. Our portable 30 microscope is ideal in applications where space is at a premium, such as lab-on-a-chips or space missions, 31and can find applications in clinical research, diagnostics, telemedicine and in educational settings. 32 33 3 34

Compact Microscope Module for High- Throughput Microscopy

“…However, this system allows for identification of a line pair of 10 µm distance on a limited FOV of 1 mm 2 . A similar resolution compared to the CMM showed in the present paper is achieved by Tristan-Landin et al [11]. Aiming for fluorescence microscopy, a high number of components is necessary resulting in larger overall dimensions.…”

PUMA – An open‐source 3D‐printed direct vision microscope with augmented reality and spatial light modulator functions

“…Many designs for a 3D printed research‐grade microscope have been proposed in recent times, some as complete microscopes, 3,4 others for specific modalities such as fluorescence 5 or as smartphone camera attachments (for example 6 ).…”

Democratising “Microscopi”: a 3D printed automated XYZT fluorescence imaging system for teaching, outreach and fieldwork

“…These low-cost systems often make use of 3D printing in the design and can include varying degrees of functionality and mechanical or electronic control. An excellent robust 3D printed design, which could replace more expensive basic teaching microscopes, is that of Tristan-Landin et al ., (2019), offering both bright field and fluorescence imaging on a CCD camera. However, this system lacks automation and image quality is limited by the choice of objective lens.…”