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

PLoS One. 2019 Oct 10;14(10):e0215114. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215114. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Fluorescence microscopy is one of the workhorses of biomedical research and laboratory diagnosis; however, their cost, size, maintenance, and fragility has prevented their adoption in developing countries or low-resource settings. Although significant advances have decreased their size, cost and accessibility, their designs and assembly remain rather complex. Here, inspired on the simple mechanism from a nut and a bolt, we report the construction of a portable fluorescence microscope that operates in bright-field mode and in three fluorescence channels: UV, green, and red. It is assembled in under 10 min from only six 3D printed parts, basic electronic components, a microcomputer (Raspberry Pi) and a camera, all of which can be readily purchased in most locations or online for US $122. The microcomputer was programmed in Python language to capture time-lapse images and videos. Resolution and illumination conditions of the microscope were characterized, and its performance was compared with a high-end fluorescence microscope in bright-field and fluorescence mode. We demonstrate that our miniature microscope can resolve and track single cells in both modes. The instructions on how to assemble the microscope are shown in a video, and the software to control it and the design files of the 3D-printed parts are freely available online. Our portable microscope is ideal in applications where space is at a premium, such as lab-on-a-chips or space missions, and can find applications in basic and clinical research, diagnostics, telemedicine and in educational settings.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence / instrumentation
  • Printing, Three-Dimensional*
  • Single-Cell Analysis / instrumentation*
  • Single-Cell Analysis / methods*
  • Software*
  • THP-1 Cells

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) Grants No. CB-256097, CB-286368, AEM-262771, LN-299051 and INF-301274; Cinvestav Grant No. SEP FIDSC2018/104.