A low-cost do-it-yourself microscope kit for hands-on science education

Abstract

Microscopes play a central role in hands-on science exploration and communication. All too often, however, students do not have a good understanding of the optical principles that govern microscopy and lack access to instruments that could help them build that understanding. Here we present an open-source Do-It-Yourself (DIY) microscope kit developed by scientists and students at BioBus, a nonprofit organization for science outreach and education based in New York City (www.biobus.org). The DIY microscope uses 3D printing to make highly adaptable optical technology readily available to educators at a low cost. Its modular configuration makes it the perfect tool to teach optical design to students of all ages. At BioBus, Inc., over 230 school-age students and teachers learned basic optics and microscope building with the DIY microscope at our community and mobile laboratories. We further present examples of how the DIY microscope was used as a platform for student-driven projects, expanding the original design to include advanced optical features such as fluorescence and infrared imaging. The images, acquired with a low cost camera, were comparable in quality to those taken using professional grade laboratory microscopes. The use of the DIY microscope is not limited to applications in physical sciences, but can also be used as an interdisciplinary teaching tool. As an example, we showed how it was configured into a functional model of the eye, to explain the physics of vision and the pathophysiology of eye disorders, such as far and short-sightedness, and age-related macular degeneration.

A Systematic, Open-Science Framework for Quantification of Cell-Types in Mouse Brain Sections Using Fluorescence Microscopy

“…Imaging parameters should be optimized to prevent oversaturation or undersaturation, as both of these represent loss of information, and therefore data (however, note that it is critical to extract the background before conducting any quantitative image analysis) ( Brown, 2007 ). Fortunately, many modern-day microscopes and their software suites offer options to visualize, in real time, the intensity distribution of a given image using histograms and high/low or range finder look-up table (LUT), but even when using systems that do not offer these options [for example, do-it-yourself microscope systems for research and education ( Gibbs et al, 2018 ; Grier et al, 2018 ; Flores and Marzullo, 2021 )], open source tools such as FIJI/ImageJ can be used to assess these parameters ( Schindelin et al, 2012 ). Once the parameters have been established, these should be kept constant throughout an experiment ( North, 2006 ).…”

BioBus – Driving Community Science & Education

“…BioBus also supports development of open-source community projects, such as the BioBus "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) microscope [8]. This hands-on and modular optical platform guides anyone who is interested through experimenting with designing and building their own 3-D printed microscope.…”

“…The microscope can be flexibly aligned for 40X or 200X magnification, in order to see small organisms and cells. Co-developed with Joshua Sanders of Sanworks, all files are available online at build.biobus.org [8].…”

“…With schools closed by COVID-19, BioBus launched BioBus at Home, a series of virtual lab programs which transport BioBus from physical labs to online labs [8]. This remote laboratory infrastructure has temporarily replaced grounded mobile labs and shuttered community labs.…”

Hands-on Curriculum in Optics of Microscopy

“…Table 1 outlines the equipment needed; images and part numbers are from ThorLabs (Newton, NJ; used by permission and not meant to endorse a particular vendor) and possible substitutions. Because the parts are durable and basic, reused, recycled, or even 3-dimensional (3D)printed parts could be used (6)(7)(8). Indeed, we have done just this for a recent 1-d short course presented on the Sunday before the American Physical Society March Meeting (9).…”