Team:Cambridge-JIC

CAMBRIDGE-JIC

Abstract

Fluorescence microscopy has become a ubiquitous part of biological research and synthetic biology, but hardware can often be prohibitively expensive. This is particularly true for labs with small budgets, including those in the DIY Bio community and developing countries. Even in well-equipped labs, often a queuing system imposed upon use of a few expensive microscopes can make research even more laborious and time-consuming than it needs to. We aim to provide a well documented, easily modifiable and high quality fluorescence microscope to address this problem. The motivation for the project comes from our own experience: that is, to make the best tools available for everyone, regardless of their financial status.

The mechanics of the microscope will be 3D printable, and all other parts will be cheap and accessible. These introduce a novel method (developed by Dr Richard Bowman, Cambridge) for precise positioning and control which exploits the flexibility of the printed parts. The microscope will also utilize the developed-in-Cambridge Raspberry Pi board and camera module for image capture. Ultimately we are aiming for <10 micron resolution, both in brightfield and fluorescence modes.

Furthermore, software used to control commercial microscopes is very much focused upon translating the physical experience of using a microscope into a computer. We aim to leverage the full computational potential of a digital microscope, carefully considering functional UX design to allow control via a Google Maps-like interface and implementing background image processing, annotation and stitching, as well as allowing fully autonomous operation.