Invention:
This invention describes a smartphone-based microscope developed for the purposes of increasing the quality of current smartphone-based microscopes without adding additional costs. By utilizing exact measurements and calculations, the claim of the invention is that it can better preserve image quality and improve the field of view when used in conjunction with a smartphone. The quality of the smartphone-based microscope is like a common bench microscope often used in medicine and industry.
Background:
Microscopes for clinical applications cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand. Thinking of the traditional bench microscope, they lack portability and easy access to areas that otherwise would benefit from them. Microscopes serve as an important tool for educational purposes and cell feature identification in specimens especially for clinical uses (such as cancer identification in skin).
Ideally, using a smartphone camera as a microscope solves the issues of portability and accessibility as most people have smartphones. However, as a result, issues involving image fidelity and quality arise as one attempts to mount a mechanical system (the microscope) to a digital device (the smartphone). The proposed invention describes an end-user device that ameliorates these issues through specific lens calculations and considerations involving the smartphone/microscope junction.
Applications:
- Histopathology in low resource environments
- STEM accessibility for schools
Advantages:
- Smartphone Based
- Low-cost
- Low resource consumption
- Better quality images than current comparable methods
