I-Corps: DotLens smartphone microscopy

I-Corps：DotLens 智能手机显微镜

• 批准号: 1558240
• 负责人: Wei-Chuan Shih
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2017-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1558240&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; DotLens; smartphone; microscopy

Currently, the access to microscopes is limited to laboratories. Although there are low cost microscopes, these microscopes are generally of a low optical quality, and are quite bulky to carry around. In many cases, these microscopes only work with samples mounted on glass slides before being able to see what needs to be seen. This I-Corps team believes there is an untapped market for customers who want to bring around their own microscopes, both for curiosity and for professional purposes. By coupling with a wireless-ready device, the proposed technology ?DotLens Microscopy? enables easy sharing and documentation. The primary motivation of the project is to enhance K-12 STEM education in the US. DotLens microscopy will enrich the current science curriculum by lowing the barrier of access to microscopes, both in the classroom and in the field, thereby improving teaching effectiveness and student learning. Ultimately, DotLens microscopy may help inspire a new generation of children and young adults to consider STEM fields as their future career path, by demonstrating the transformation of a smartphone into a microscope. The simplicity, versatility and flexibility of DotLens microscopy on virtually any camera-ready mobile electronic devices will enable a wide range of innovative formal and informal education activities. As for industrial and professional applications, DotLens microscopy provides imaging quality competitive to professional imaging systems at a fraction of the cost and weight.DotLens is a revolutionary polymer lens that can transform any smartphone or tablet camera into a microscope with a magnification from 5 to 150 times and resolution approaching 1/100th the width of a hair. DotLens can be simply attached to any camera port in a fashion similar to contact lens for human eyes, and its microscopy capabilities can find a variety of applications, for example, vision aid for the elderly, biological imaging, and classroom usage in K-12 education. DotLens is manufactured by a proprietary 3D printing method, producing high quality lenses with precise magnification. The team's goal is to refine the market research and develop strategies to address individual vertical segments, including pricing analysis, competitor analysis, distribution channels, etc. The team will engage in interviewing potential users such as researchers, academicians, students, teachers, and other professionals their user experience and acceptance. Ultimately, the team would like to introduce DotLens microscopy to the international arena, and provide it at affordable cost for all whom can benefit from it.

目前，显微镜的使用仅限于实验室。虽然有低成本的显微镜，但这些显微镜通常光学质量较低，而且携带起来相当笨重。在许多情况下，这些显微镜只能处理装在玻片上的样品，然后才能看到需要看到的东西。这个I-Corps团队相信，对于那些想要随身携带显微镜的客户来说，无论是出于好奇还是出于专业目的，都有一个尚未开发的市场。通过与无线设备相结合，提出的技术？DotLens显微镜吗?支持轻松的共享和文档。该项目的主要动机是加强美国K-12 STEM教育。DotLens显微镜将通过降低在教室和实地使用显微镜的障碍来丰富当前的科学课程，从而提高教学效率和学生的学习。最终，DotLens显微镜可能会通过展示智能手机到显微镜的转变，帮助激励新一代的儿童和年轻人将STEM领域作为他们未来的职业道路。DotLens显微镜的简单性、多功能性和灵活性几乎适用于任何相机就绪的移动电子设备，将使各种创新的正式和非正式教育活动成为可能。至于工业和专业应用，DotLens显微镜提供的成像质量具有竞争力的专业成像系统的成本和重量的一小部分。DotLens是一种革命性的聚合物镜头，可以将任何智能手机或平板电脑相机变成显微镜，放大倍数从5到150倍，分辨率接近头发丝宽度的1/100。DotLens可以简单地连接到任何相机端口，就像人类眼睛的隐形眼镜一样，它的显微镜功能可以找到各种应用，例如，老年人的视力辅助，生物成像和K-12教育的课堂使用。DotLens采用专有的3D打印方法制造，可生产具有精确放大倍率的高质量镜头。该团队的目标是完善市场研究和发展战略，以解决个别垂直细分市场，包括价格分析，竞争对手分析，分销渠道等。该团队将参与对潜在用户（如研究人员、学者、学生、教师和其他专业人员）的用户体验和接受度的访谈。最终，该团队希望将DotLens显微镜引入国际舞台，并以可承受的成本为所有可以从中受益的人提供。