News Researchers 3D-print fully-functioning microscope in less than 3 hours — total system costs around $60, including lenses, camera, and Raspberry Pi

[Admin]

Researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland built the world's most affordable 3D-printed microscope that has a total production cost of around $60.

Researchers 3D-print fully-functioning microscope in less than 3 hours — total system costs around $60, including lenses, camera, and Raspberry Pi : Read more

 

[edzieba]

Paper here: https://opg.optica.org/boe/fulltext.cfm?uri=boe-15-4-2224&id=547689

Lenses were produced by SLA printing in a clear resin, followed by postprocessing by spin-coating the curved side with resin and then curing, followed by spin-coating a glass slide and placing the flat side on the lens on it and curing again (suing vacuum to eliminate bubbles between the printed lens and slide).

 

[AkroZ]

Yeah, you can't print it anywhere and in no times. But it's true that this new process to make lense is less complex to setup than with glass, meaning less costly.

 

[Skramblr]

Either I'm really ignorant or the author is embarrassing himself as he insinuates I can take the 3D files over a any 3D printer and get a usable microscope. Ands with the limited functionality of this device, it's not going to replace any of the microscopes that I've used at work.

 

[circadia]

Either I'm really ignorant or the author is embarrassing himself as he insinuates I can take the 3D files over a any 3D printer and get a usable microscope. Ands with the limited functionality of this device, it's not going to replace any of the microscopes that I've used at work.

the point of those 3D-printed microscopes is NOT replacing professional ones for laboratories doing serious research, it's for home/personal use, teaching kids how cells look like, or hospitals in poorer nations that cannot afford expensive equipment...

 

[circadia]

Yeah, you can't print it anywhere and in no times. But it's true that this new process to make lense is less complex to setup than with glass, meaning less costly.

I don't know much about 3D printing hardware, which hardware is actually suitable for printing those lenses?