Microscopic Marvels: Microscope for the Masses

Summary posted by Meridian on 6/9/2009
Source: Nature News
Author: Erika Check Hayden

A researcher at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, has devised a microscope that is small, cheap and mass-producible, and may transform the way microscopy is done. Changhuei Yang, says his microscope, which could cost as little at US$10 each, could have the same revolutionary impact on science that the integrated circuit had on the electronics industry. The microscope uses a "direct projection" technique that eliminates the need for lenses. Instead, he uses sensing chips with a thin layer of metal into which 500-nanometer holes are punched, creating apertures that are smaller than a pixel and are patterned along the path of a microfluidic channel. The chip captures repeated but staggered snapshots of the sample as it floats along. The microscope could boost low-cost science and medicine in developing nations, according to the article, as it is rugged, works with sunlight, and needs no more computational power than what is found in an iPod. Yang is currently working with Ricardo Leitão, a postdoctoral fellow at New York University School of Medicine, and founder of a non-profit group called Tek4Dev (Science & Technology for Sustainable Development), to test the microscope's ability to diagnose malaria-infected red blood cells. Microscopes are the standard method for detecting the disease, but are often few and far between in malaria-endemic areas. Leitão said "[H]aving a diagnostic tool as powerful as Yang's integrated with our hardware and 'tele' ability would be of tremendous clinical value." The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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our team contact us site map	Microscopic Marvels: Microscope for the Masses Summary posted by Meridian on 6/9/2009 Source: Nature News Author: Erika Check Hayden A researcher at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, has devised a microscope that is small, cheap and mass-producible, and may transform the way microscopy is done. Changhuei Yang, says his microscope, which could cost as little at US$10 each, could have the same revolutionary impact on science that the integrated circuit had on the electronics industry. The microscope uses a "direct projection" technique that eliminates the need for lenses. Instead, he uses sensing chips with a thin layer of metal into which 500-nanometer holes are punched, creating apertures that are smaller than a pixel and are patterned along the path of a microfluidic channel. The chip captures repeated but staggered snapshots of the sample as it floats along. The microscope could boost low-cost science and medicine in developing nations, according to the article, as it is rugged, works with sunlight, and needs no more computational power than what is found in an iPod. Yang is currently working with Ricardo Leitão, a postdoctoral fellow at New York University School of Medicine, and founder of a non-profit group called Tek4Dev (Science & Technology for Sustainable Development), to test the microscope's ability to diagnose malaria-infected red blood cells. Microscopes are the standard method for detecting the disease, but are often few and far between in malaria-endemic areas. Leitão said "[H]aving a diagnostic tool as powerful as Yang's integrated with our hardware and 'tele' ability would be of tremendous clinical value." The article can be viewed online at the link below. The original article may still be available at www.nature.com/news/2009/090603/full/459632a.html As tagged by Meridian Institute: Energy: Solar Health And Medical: Diagnostics, Devices, Diseases Implications: Human Enhancement, Socio-Economic Effects Materials And Manufacturing: Electronics, Manufacturing, Materials Nanomaterials: Metal Nanoparticle Regions: North America Stakeholders: NGO, Academia Minerals And Metals: Metals Related Forums: Health and Medical Materials and Manufacturing Metals and Minerals Socio-Economic print format	NDN Home Subscribe Manage Subscription Search News Archives Understanding Public Debate on Nanotechnologies: Options for Framing Public Policy -- The Innovation Society (2/8/2010) The Governance and Ethics Unit of the Directorate General for Research (DG Research) of the European Commission (EC) has published an overview paper on options for framing public policy on nanotechnologies. [More] UN Patent Filings Dropped for 1st Time Since 1978 -- ABC news (2/8/2010) The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an entity through which a company can, for a fee, file a request for patent protection in any or all of the 142 countries that have subscribed to the U.N.'s Patent Cooperation Treaty, reported that the number of international patent filings dropped last year for the first time since 1978. [More] TECHNOLOGY: Science Panel Probes Renewable Energy's Current Use of China's Rare Metals -- Environment & Energy Daily (2/8/2010) A United States House of Representatives Science and Technology subcommittee this week will hold a hearing on rare earth mineral production and the resource's role in the growing clean energy industry. [More] Nanofood for Thought -- Nature Nanotechnology (2/5/2010) This editorial, in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is in response to the recent report, "Nanotechnologies and Food", released in January by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, United Kingdom, that criticized the food industry for failing to be transparent about its research into the uses of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. [More] More News... Learn how to include these headlines on your own website by clicking here. Please email us if you require text-only versions of the daily emails.