Smartphone microscope kit

Everyone knows the rise of smartphones has put powerful cameras in our pockets, but we forget these cameras can also be transformed into powerful microscopes. Enter DIPLE, a Kickstarter that promises to supercharge your phone with up to 1,000 times magnification, allowing you to examine microorganisms, bacteria, and even your own blood cells.

The team behind DIPLE (pronounced “dipple”) previously made BLIPS, a series of stick-on smartphone lenses. We thought BLIPS were fun, but getting good results took patience. Stick-on lenses are lightweight and easy to apply, but their focal point is difficult to align, meaning images were often blurry and distorted.

DIPLE is offering static, back-lit setup for more stable microscopy. It trades portability for consistent results and higher levels of magnification. DIPLE also makes the use of prepared slides (when a sample is sandwiched between two pieces of glass) much easier. The kit is smallish, the size of a smartphone box, and it offers three levels of magnification (35x, 75x, and 150x), which can be increased using your phone’s zoom. The makers of DIPLE, SmartMicroOptics, says users will be able to achieve up to 1,000x magnification “before getting any pixelation,” though that will depend in part on the capacity of individuals’ smartphones.

Read more at The Verge

Image Credit: DIPLE

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