It costs less than a dollar and looks like an origami project, but based on the buzz currently being generated by a foldable paper microscope created by a team of Stanford University bioengineers, it could radically change the way that researchers magnify objects out in the field.
The device is known as a Foldscope, and the researchers behind it call it a new approach to mass manufacture optical microscopes that are printed and folded from a single flat sheet of paper, not unlike the well-known Japanese art of paper folding. More impressively, the Foldscope costs just 50 cents to make and can magnify objects more than 2,000 times.
Dr. Manu Prakash, an assistant professor in the Stanford Department of Bioengineering, and his colleagues originally published their research in June 2014. Their device, they explained, utilizes sub-micron resolution, weighs less than a pair of nickels, is small enough to fit in a pocket, needs no external power and is durable enough to withstand being stepped on.
“Merging principles of optical design with origami,” they wrote at the time, “enables high-volume fabrication of microscopes from 2D media… This light, rugged instrument can survive harsh field conditions while providing a diversity of imaging capabilities, thus serving wide-ranging applications for cost-effective, portable microscopes in science and education.”
Putting Foldscope to the test in the field
Fast forward to the summer of 2015, when US field biologist Aaron Pomerantz received one of the devices in the mail and decided that he was going to put it to the test during a one-month long expedition to the Peruvian Amazon rainforest – an experience which he detailed in a recent story for the Huffington Post. Long story short: He came away impressed.
“This device is amazing,” Pomerantz, an entomologist and a molecular biologist who runs the website The Next Gen Scientist, wrote. “During my time in the Amazon rainforest, I was able to investigate tiny insects, mites, fungi and plant cells from 140x to 480x magnification without requiring a large and expensive conventional microscope.”
“Some of the diverse arthropod specimens could potentially be new to science, so it was really exciting to document images and videos of these organisms right there in the field by connecting my phone to the Foldscope,” he added.”This device is cheap, easy to use and broadly applicable whether you’re a curious young student, a medical professional in the field or someone who is interested in the numerous tiny things that surround us.”
Dr. Prakash’s team reported on their website that the Foldscope Beta-program is closed, and that they will provide updates if and when the device becomes available in another way. The website also encourages anybody interested in receiving announcements for the next large-scale phase of the trial to send an email with Foldscope in the subject line and a brief description of where they live and what kind of environment they plan to work in.
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Feature Image: TED Talks/Prakash Lab
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