ArticlePloS one2019
Facile assembly of an affordable miniature multicolor fluorescence microscope made of 3D-printed parts enables detection of single cells.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- A portable and low-cost fluorescence reader for near-patient nucleic acid amplification assays.Biomedical microdevices · 2026Article
- Low-cost 3D-printed optics for super-resolution multifocal structured illumination microscopy.Biomedical optics express · 2026Article
- Fluorescent labeling of asbestos fiber for enhanced asbestos detection under fluorescence microscopy.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- A Modular Microfluidic Organoid Platform Using LEGO-Like Bricks.Advanced healthcare materials · 2024Article
- Trackoscope: A low-cost, open, autonomous tracking microscope for long-term observations of microscale organisms.PloS one · 2024Article
- Implementation of miniaturized modular-array fluorescence microscopy for long-term live-cell imaging.Applied optics · 2023Article
- A Compact Control System to Enable Automated Operation of Microfluidic Bioanalytical Assays.Biosensors · 2022Article
- A Cost-Effective Nucleic Acid Detection System Using a Portable Microscopic Device.Micromachines · 2022Article
- Sensing Optimum in the Raw: Leveraging the Raw-Data Imaging Capabilities of Raspberry Pi for Diagnostics Applications.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Nonmechanical parfocal and autofocus features based on wave propagation distribution in lensfree holographic microscopy.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Serial imaging of micro-agents and cancer cell spheroids in a microfluidic channel using multicolor fluorescence microscopy.PloS one · 2021Article
- Miniaturized modular-array fluorescence microscopy.Biomedical optics express · 2020Article
- Inexpensive Methods for Live Imaging of Central Pattern Generator Activity in theJournal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Fluorescence microscopy is one of the workhorses of biomedical research and laboratory diagnosis; however, their cost, size, maintenance, and fragility has prevented their adoption in developing countries or low-resource settings. Although significant advances have decreased their size, cost and accessibility, their designs and assembly remain rather complex. Here, inspired on the simple mechanism from a nut and a bolt, we report the construction of a portable fluorescence microscope that operates in bright-field mode and in three fluorescence channels: UV, green, and red. It is assembled in under 10 min from only six 3D printed parts, basic electronic components, a microcomputer (Raspberry Pi) and a camera, all of which can be readily purchased in most locations or online for US $122. The microcomputer was programmed in Python language to capture time-lapse images and videos. Resolution and illumination conditions of the microscope were characterized, and its performance was compared with a high-end fluorescence microscope in bright-field and fluorescence mode. We demonstrate that our miniature microscope can resolve and track single cells in both modes. The instructions on how to assemble the microscope are shown in a video, and the software to control it and the design files of the 3D-printed parts are freely available online. Our portable microscope is ideal in applications where space is at a premium, such as lab-on-a-chips or space missions, and can find applications in basic and clinical research, diagnostics, telemedicine and in educational settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.