A Report on Iphone Medical Microscope – Internship Project
Written By: Jennifer S. Lee
II BS ME
Advised by: Sir Paul Cabacungan
Period: May 23, 2013; June 26, 2013
Parasites in the human body are a very common problem of our time, and one of the ways in which we can
detect the parasite is examining them through a microscope. This experiment aims to create a microscope using
everyday objects. The created microscope can be used to diagnose internal worms on children.
Objectives:
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To create a microscope using a smart phone with a lens attached to the camera.
To use everyday lenses found on laser to magnify specimens and capture them on the phone camera.
Setup:
Procedure:
-
Lens from a laser was removed and taped to the camera of a phone.
The camera was then placed in front of the computer screen 1 cm away from the monitor.
Results:
Left: 4x software zoom. Right: No zoom.
Measurements:
Device:
Screen Size:
Resolution:
Calculation of pixel size: (width)
Calculation of pixel size: (length)
Pixel size of the device:
Laptop: Hp Pavilion dv6
32.29 cm x 19.05 cm
1366 x 768
34.29 cm / 1366 pixel = 0.025 cm/pixel
19.05 cm / 768 pixel = 0.025 cm/pixel
0.025 cm x 0.025 cm
Phone: Nokia Express music 5530
4 cm x 6.5 cm
360 x 640
4 cm / 360 pixel = 0.011 cm/pixel
6.5 cm / 640 pixel = 0.010 cm/pixel
0.011 cm x 0.010 cm
Measurement of picture on Cellphone Screen
Picture: 4 cm x 5 cm
Pixel Without zoom: 0.2 cm x 0.2 cm
Pixel With zoom(x4): 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm
Calculation for magnification:
0.2 cm / 0.025 cm = 8x magnification (ratio from laptop to cellphone)
0.5 cm / 0.025 cm = 20x magnification (ratio from laptop to cellphone zoom)
0.5 cm / 0.2 cm = 2.5x magnification (ratio from cellphone to cellphone zoom)
Therefore, Laser lens has 8x magnification and the software zoom has 2.5x magnification.
The measurements of the picture on the screen were used to calculate the ratio of the magnification of the lens
as seen in the camera. The measurements were then compared to the calculated pixel size to see the amount of
magnification.
We also tried to look at the Detritus found in the water from the Aquaponics setup. (Left: Detritus. Right:
Comparison to a 1 peso coin.)
Problems Encountered:
-
Getting a sharp pictures from that camera was hard because the lens was not properly attached to the camera.
Focus the lens and tuning it with the camera was hard because the lens didn’t have a good casing, or something
to attach it to.
Left: Pig Embryo zoom 100x. Right: Microscope lenses 4x, 10x, 40x, 100x.
On June 26, we went to the Biology laboratory to see the resolutions of commercial microscope used in
laboratories. We saw that commercial microscope lens have 10x eyepiece lens, 4x, 10x, 40x, 100x lenses. With the
microscope we were able to observe a sample of pig embryo.
We want to be able to replicate what we see with the commercial microscope to the DIY microscope with the
smartphone. So, our next step is to look for lenses with higher magnification, and different type of lenses to be able to
design a microscope with different magnification for different purposes.
Improvements:
-
Find ways to attach lens to the phone easily.
Have more different magnification lenses.
Add light to the side of the lens to look at places without a back light.
Be able to focus the camera on the close up project better.
Conclusion:
Simple microscope can be made available for everyday use with simple materials. We can make microscope
more available to those who need them, especially to those who can’t afford expensive microscopes. Though the
microscope is not as good as the commercial model, a microscope that can magnify specimens can be of great help to a
lot of things especially in the medical field where early detection of parasites is crucial. With this microscope we can
gather data from specimens that need magnification, and document it more quickly with the attached camera at the
same time see it better with the phone screen. Magnification can easily range from one magnification to another by
simply changing the lens attached to the phone.
Project by: Jennifer Lee