Open-source do-it-yourself multi-color fluorescence smartphone microscopy

Abstract

Fluorescence microscopy is an important technique for cellular and microbiological investigations. Translating this technique onto a smartphone can enable particularly powerful applications such as on-site analysis, on-demand monitoring, and point-of-care diagnostics. Current fluorescence smartphone microscope setups require precise illumination and imaging alignment which altogether limit its broad adoption. We report a multi-color fluorescence smartphone microscope with a single contact lens-like add-on lens and slide-launched total-internal-reflection guided illumination for three common tasks in investigative fluorescence microscopy: autofluorescence, fluorescent stains, and immunofluorescence. The open-source, simple and cost-effective design has the potential for do-it-yourself fluorescence smartphone microscopy.

A Modular Microarray Imaging System for Highly Specific COVID-19 Antibody Testing

“…Various low-cost microscopy platforms using portable devices such as cell phone cameras have been recently developed for various applications. In mobile devices, different illumination strategies have been reported including on-axis epi-illumination 15,16 , off-axis inclined illumination 17 , butt-coupling 18 , and total internal reflection 19 . In order to avoid out-of-focus background with these illumination schemes, either the sample is compressed to a thickness of ~10 µm by mounting it between two glass slides 20 or physical properties of the sample such as plasmonic enhancement due to the presence of a metal surface 17 or total internal reflection due to the presence of a refractive index change are exploited 19 .…”

“…In mobile devices, different illumination strategies have been reported including on-axis epi-illumination 15,16 , off-axis inclined illumination 17 , butt-coupling 18 , and total internal reflection 19 . In order to avoid out-of-focus background with these illumination schemes, either the sample is compressed to a thickness of ~10 µm by mounting it between two glass slides 20 or physical properties of the sample such as plasmonic enhancement due to the presence of a metal surface 17 or total internal reflection due to the presence of a refractive index change are exploited 19 . Yet, to reliably read microarrays, a suitable device also needs to provide a large (5-75 mm), uniform, undistorted field of view with high spatial resolution (~10 µm), and the sensor response across the field of view must be calibrated to ensure a linear response.…”

“…Probing this large number of antigens simultaneously in a single test allows for much higher specificity, sensitivity, and information density than conventional antibody tests such as lateral flow assays (LIFAs). LIFAs are susceptible to false positive results, especially for COVID- 19 and current LIFA test performance has been reported inadequate for most individual patient applications 14 . Testing for reactivity against only one or two antigens is not always reliable as cross-reactivity can occur.…”

cellSTORM—Cost-effective super-resolution on a cellphone using dSTORM

“…JPEG/MPEG algorithms. Recording the unprocessed raw-data ("snap-mode") makes the use of cellphones even more attractive for science [17,19,[31][32][33].…”

A low‐cost, automated parasite diagnostic system via a portable, robotic microscope and deep learning

“…The development of smartphones in the past decade has precipitated an explosion in the quality of optics and electronics available at low cost to the consumer. The development of smartphone‐based microscopes, spectrographs and other laboratory‐grade instruments have been widely reported . In the field of helminth detection, Bogoch et al have demonstrated the use of smartphone microscopy to accurately detect infections by a trained user in the field with moderate sensitivities and specificities .…”