3D Printing a Low-Cost Miniature Accommodating Optical Microscope

Rihan Hai; Guangbin Shao; Henry Oliver T. Ware; Evan Hunter Jones; Cheng Sun

doi:10.1002/adma.202208365

3D Printing a Low-Cost Miniature Accommodating Optical Microscope

Rihan Hai, Guangbin Shao, Henry Oliver T. Ware, Evan Hunter Jones, Cheng Sun^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Mechanical Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

This decade has witnessed the tremendous progress in miniaturizing optical imaging systems. Despite the advancements in 3D printing optical lenses at increasingly smaller dimensions, challenges remain in precisely manufacturing the dimensionally compatible optomechanical components and assembling them into a functional imaging system. To tackle this issue, the use of 3D printing to enable digitalized optomechanical component manufacturing, part-count-reduction design, and the inclusion of passive alignment features is reported here, all for the ease of system assembly. The key optomechanical components of a penny-sized accommodating optical microscope are 3D printed in 50 min at a significantly reduced unit cost near $4. By actuating a built-in voice-coil motor, its accommodating capability is validated to focus on specimens located at different distances, and a focus-stacking function is further utilized to greatly extend depth of field. The microscope can be readily customized and rapidly manufactured to respond to task-specific needs in form factor and optical characteristics.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	2208365
Journal	Advanced Materials
Volume	35
Issue number	20
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202208365
State	Published - May 18 2023

Funding

This work made use of the EPIC, Keck‐II, and/or SPID facility(ies) of the Northwestern University's NUANCE Center, which had received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (Grant No. NSFECCS‐1542205); the MRSEC program (Grant No. NSFDMR‐1121262) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. This work was funded by the NIH Grant Nos. R01GM140478, R01DE030480 and Nissan USA. C.S. would like to thank Dr. Yong Guo in helping for selecting the CMOS image sensors.

Keywords

3D printing
additive manufacturing
low cost
microcontinuous liquid interface production
miniature accommodating optical microscopes
optical imaging systems

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Mechanics of Materials
Mechanical Engineering
General Materials Science

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10.1002/adma.202208365

Cite this

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title = "3D Printing a Low-Cost Miniature Accommodating Optical Microscope",

abstract = "This decade has witnessed the tremendous progress in miniaturizing optical imaging systems. Despite the advancements in 3D printing optical lenses at increasingly smaller dimensions, challenges remain in precisely manufacturing the dimensionally compatible optomechanical components and assembling them into a functional imaging system. To tackle this issue, the use of 3D printing to enable digitalized optomechanical component manufacturing, part-count-reduction design, and the inclusion of passive alignment features is reported here, all for the ease of system assembly. The key optomechanical components of a penny-sized accommodating optical microscope are 3D printed in 50 min at a significantly reduced unit cost near $4. By actuating a built-in voice-coil motor, its accommodating capability is validated to focus on specimens located at different distances, and a focus-stacking function is further utilized to greatly extend depth of field. The microscope can be readily customized and rapidly manufactured to respond to task-specific needs in form factor and optical characteristics.",

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author = "Rihan Hai and Guangbin Shao and Ware, {Henry Oliver T.} and Jones, {Evan Hunter} and Cheng Sun",

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3D Printing a Low-Cost Miniature Accommodating Optical Microscope

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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