I'm looking at something in the realm of 120X total magnification
(just an estimate compared to a crappy high school grade microscope,
nothing to benchmark against) with quite clear image quality (no
obvious chromatic or spatial distortions, good focus) with the system
I'm using now, though I've tried to design it with portability
(multiple magnification settings, easy hacking of attachments) in
mind. Currently I'm just extending the distance the lens system is
from the light sensor by means of a metal tube, which you could switch
out fairly easily. This works with the leap from 50x to ~120x
magnification, but because of the corresponding decrease in working
distance it may not work for the leap from 100x to 400x. The final
production system may have to rely on a commercial LWD objective to
get high magnifications like that, but I'd like to stay away from that
if at all possible (cost and mounting issues, though I wouldn't be
opposed to having an add-on kit for mounting such a thing). The metal
tube system may work if I can find a lens with a longer base working
distance, but I'm limited in my ability to go out and buy a bunch of
webcams to test them all. Currently I'm using a logitech C270. I think
the PS3 eye guys have been getting something closer to 400x, though I
don't know about their working distance. Also, adapting the ps3 eye
means using glue on the optics to reverse it (which means
interoperability is out, unless I can figure out a way to make new
lens mounting hoods for these with a 3d printer, the dimensions are
finicky and would make such a print pricy though).
As far as what I'm making it for, personally I plan on using it as a
general field microscope (general bio observations, just for fun type
stuff), and significantly for making observations of fluorescence
altered neuron cultures. I'm less worried about my specific
applications than the communities demands though, because I would like
to eventually produce kits for others in the diybio community to use
as well (possibly creating a revenue stream to fund my own research),
which is why I ask what others would likely use something like this
for. As far as possible uses go, the microscope is designed to have as
much open space around the stage working area as possible to allow for
attachments (manipulators, sensors), and the light system is designed
to be able to accommodate light filters, darkfield, etc.
Basic design idea:
The microscope frame is a square or rectangle, hollow at the level of
the stage, the stage is a thin clear piece of glass with a frame,
suspended in the center of the microscope frame with rods. To
manipulate a container you just place it on the stage platform, the
container doesn't move on the stage, the whole stage moves. Think of
the stage as a 3d printer build platform in two dimensions, x and y.
Movement of the stage platform is designed to accommodate viewing of
anything that can fit on the stage platform itself. As far as plans
for magnification, I'm trying to get the largest range of
magnification possible while still maintaining a working distance
usable in an inverted microscope setup, which may preclude
magnifications of 400x, but hopefully will be able to at least
accommodate 200x.
Jonathan Nesser
jonathan.nesser@gmail.com
diybioandneurosci.blogspot.com
On Dec 25, 8:39 pm, Avery louie <inactiv...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I would use the microscope for bacteriology. The standard dishes are about
> 10cm (100mm) across. However, it also depends on what you are using your
> microscope for. Unless you can get a good image at 400x, you aren't going
> to see individual bacteria, and even at that level they are about the size
> of a grain of salt. The SOP in my lab is to just take a sample from the
> dish and prepare a slide, not to look at the plate itself because of
> contamination and practicality issues. If you ware making something more
> like a dissecting scope, for looking at colony morphology, I would say that
> you would want to have something that can access any part of the round
> plate--because you never know where the colony will be. Otherwise, just
> make it slide-sized.
>
> What kind of magnification are you getting?
>
> On Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 9:25 PM, Jonathan Nesser
> <jonathan.nes...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
> > I've recently been thinking about microscopes. My thought has been to
> > make a kit for a webcam style microscope, inverted of course, because
> > we're concerned with observing actual working cells not dead and
> > mounted ones. The only thing that is really an issue is creating a
> > stage for such a system (optics having already been solved for the
> > most part by the guys working on stuff like the ps3 eye microscope,
> > etc.) I think I've finally cracked the issue of an inverted stage that
> > would be build-able with simple parts, and I'm looking for some input.
> > Assuming we're only talking about working surface area, how much space
> > would you need on a microscope stage? What sizes of culture flasks/
> > petri dishes does everyone use? If you could, post two numbers, an
> > idealized size that would fulfill your wildest dreams (if you're the
> > type who dreams about this stuff, lol, I know I am), and the smallest
> > space you could make due with realistically. Thanks for your
> > participation, I'll try to put up some pictures/scans of design
> > sketches some time soon, I've just started learning google sketch, so
> > no 3d models as of yet, just pen and grid paper drawings.
>
> > Jonathan Nesser
> > jonathan.nes...@gmail.com
> > diybioandneurosci.blogspot.com
>
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