World’s First Fully-3D Printed Microscope Could Bring Microscopy to Millions

Researchers from the University of Strathclyde have made the world’s first fully 3D printed microscope, and it’s cheaper than one might think. The base model costs less than a McDonald’s Big Mac Meal and could accelerate scientific discoveries all over the world. 

The seed for this project started a few years ago when researchers from the University of Bathe and University of Cambridge came together to start the OpenFlexure project. Their goal was simple: develop affordable, open-source microscopes using 3D printing and off-the-shelf components. By leveraging the cost-effective nature of 3D printing, they significantly decreased one barrier to entry and have made microscopy accessible to more people on all seven continents. However, despite these advancements, their designs still require expensive research-grade lenses that can still exclude many from using microscopy.

The research team from the University of Strathclyde, saw this as an opportunity to improve the OpenFlexure design and reduce the costs of the microscope lenses. Their solution? 3D print them! 

The team from Strathclyde used a Mars 3 Pro Resin 3D printer to print the condenser lens and a Mars 2 3D resin printer to print the objective lens. Both were printed with Formlabs clear photopolymerising resin and were based on a 12.7 mm diameter plano-convex lens with a  35 mm focal length from Edmund Optics and a 12.7 mm plano-convex lens with a 20 mm focal length from Thorlabs, respectively.

In addition to the lenses, the researchers added a store-bought CMOS camera, an LED light, and a raspberry pi to control the microscope.  All together, the system ran a few hundred dollars, but the 3D printed components inside only cost $8.52! Even with the upgraded components, this lab-grade 3D printed microscope is a fraction of the price of comparable models.

Impressively, the team also demonstrated the device’s ability to distinguish individual blood cells and detail the intricate cellular structures of a mouse’s kidney.

“This [technology] opens the doors to democratized access, rapid prototyping, and bespoke design of microscopes and optics at a fraction of the price of traditional microscopes. It could [also] help scientists and medics in low-income countries around the world, as well as enabling students to learn more about science through accessible, cheap kit.” said Dr. Liam Rooney, postdoctoral research associate, who created the device with Professor Gail McConnell in Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences.

This is an amazing breakthrough for the field and could potentially put microscopy into exponentially more people’s hands. The device compares well to research grade alternatives and does it at a fraction of the cost. It is exciting to think about the possibilities this microscope manufacturing process has and the almost limitless customizable possibilities. We will continue to monitor this space and are excited to see the perturbations that come from this effort.

The full article can be found here.