Redesign and commercialise portable fluorescent microscope

Abstract

With tremendous 'human mobility,' epidemics are spreading with extraordinary speed across continents. Accurate testing is one of the most critical measures to prevent epidemics from growing out of control. However, we are lacking large scale, smart, and accurate testing methods. We believe that fluorescent microscopy is one of the most suitable techniques for large-scale testing, and it has enormous market potential. However, the instruments used in fluorescent microscopy are not only bulky, expensive but also require professionals to control. We have re-designed a new fluorescent microscope system that is compact, affordable, and easy to operate. The major re-designed element is the light separation system, where we replace the typical light separation design by specially arranged ball lens and Fresnel lens optical structure. The newly designed fluorescent microscope has multiple advantages. First of all, the light intensity on the sample is quite high, adequate for at least a 20X magnification objective lens. With a 4X objective, we have demonstrated resolution of at least 4um. Secondly, the system is much smaller and more affordable than the conventional filter cube structure. Manufacturing cost is ten-fold less than the filter cube structure. Thirdly, our system is versatile and tolerant, unlike the filter cube, which could only separate a particular pair of wavelengths of light. Our system is compatible with multiple wavelengths of both illumination and detection with minimal mechanical changes. Moreover, mechanical tolerance is greatly increased due to fewer optical parts. Lastly, the system is designed for internet control, which suits the development of 5G internet and enables remote control of the microscope. A company has been launched for further development and commercialisation of our fluorescent microscope. A considerable amount of start-up funds have been obtained, and encouraging collaborations with other companies have also been established. In addition, there has been press coverage regarding the commercialization of our fluorescent microscope, gaining much attentions across different communities in the health and food hygiene industry, and also biotechnology fields.

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology