A 'microscopic microscope' helps monitor living cells up close

If "micro" means small, what do you call a microscopic version of a microscope?

 

Harvard scientists developed a mini-microscope to monitor live cells in position, according to a report on the UK's Royal Society of Chemistry website.

 

Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology associate professor Ali Khademhosseini tweeted about their paper:

 

Check out our latest paper on @labonachip "A mini-microscope for in situ monitoring of cells - Lab on a Chip pubs.rsc.org/en/content/art…

— Ali Khademhosseini (@khademh) August 24, 2012

 

Khademhosseini is one of the proponents of the study as part of the journal Lab on a Chip.

 

The microscope is made by modifying the components of a commercial webcam: an ordinary CMOS imaging module, a tiny plastic lens, and a white LED light source.

 

The CMOS is connected to a laptop computer through a USB port to capture and analyze images.

 

Based on the abstract of the study, the mini-microscope is 8 x 10 x 9 cm—it can fit in your palm.

 

The study also said that its compact size enables it to monitor cellular behavior real-time. It can also be used to capture images of cells in cell culture flasks—think about Petri dishes.

 

 

This innovation, given its cost effectiveness and portability, can be useful for a range of applications in medicine, especially in real-time cellular imaging. — TJD, GMA News