The idea isn’t new – this CBS article from 6 years ago (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-microscope-ditches-the-lenses/) can be found on reddit under the heading – New Microscope Ditches The Lenses. Cheap And Small Enough To Fit In A Cell Phone.
But I’m way more impressed with this Reddit post from yesterday –
Lens turns smartphone into a microscope: Costs only 3 cents
Because even at a high markup, it might soon be possible to buy something for a dollar that will enable cell phones to take photos like a microscope could. Not only will this be COOL and FUN, but it will help billions of people get a better look at infections, tick bites, melanomas – and all sorts of other health issues that can be diagnosed so much easier, right away, if a quality photo can be sent to a doctors’ office.
Researchers at the University of Houston have created an optical lens that can be placed on an inexpensive smartphone to magnify images by a magnitude of 120, all for just 3 cents a lens.
Wei-Chuan Shih, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH, said the lens can work as a microscope, and the cost and ease of using it – it attaches directly to a smartphone camera lens, without the use of any additional device – make it ideal for use with younger students in the classroom.
The resulting lenses are flexible, similar to a soft contact lens, although they are thicker and slightly smaller.
“Our lens can transform a smartphone camera into a microscope by simply attaching the lens without any supporting attachments or mechanism,” the researchers wrote.
“The strong, yet non-permanent adhesion between PDMS and glass allows the lens to be easily detached after use. An imaging resolution of 1 with an optical magnification of 120X has been achieved.”
Sung uses a Nokia Lumia 520, prompting him to say the resulting microscope came from “a $20 phone and a 1 cent lens.” That 1 cent covers the cost of the material; he and Shih estimate that it will cost about 3 cents to manufacture the lenses in bulk.
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