Comments on: An iPhone Microscope

By: Zack Gainsforth

Zack Gainsforth — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:40:56 +0000

I love the scope attachment you built for your phone! It looks like it was a blast to make. It turns out that if you can look through a microscope with your eye and focus, then the iPhone can focus too. Therefore, you can separate the problem of stabilizing the sample from the iPhone. First to adjust the sample to focus using your eyes, then you place the iPhone in position until it is focussed.

I use microscopes every day in the lab, and one of the problems I run into is that many of them don’t have micrograph equipment, or I’d have to boot a computer and hook up to the network, etc to get my images off. I longed for an iPhone program. So I made one. I just released it and it is called iMicroscope. I’ll give links below.

I found that the most important factors in holding the camera steady are holding it stiffly as this causes your muscles to shake less (not too stiff) and touch the microscope or another solid stationary object with several points on your hand. Once you’ve got the full view in focus you can snap your shot. You actually don’t have to wait for the image to become perfect — it can flicker or do whatever on the iPhone because it is in fast frame mode in order to produce video. As soon as you snap the shot, it changes the settings on the CCD and obtains a nice clear image.

So if you’re using iMicroscope I think you would be able to get away with using a mobile standalone scope.

App store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imicroscope/id351177122?mt=8 A tips page I wrote with more detail: http://www.perceptdev.com/imicroscope/iMicroscope_Website/Tips.html A YouTube video showing how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4YMxlfBh10

Enjoy!

Zack

By: tito

tito — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:03:04 +0000

VERY simple, and I imagine very sensitive. I love it!

Any thoughts on making a more mobile tool?

Tito

By: IainC

IainC — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:24:33 +0000

Great idea! I’ve just completed a similar webcam microscope hack with good results. You can see my write-up on my site. Maybe my ultra-simple solution will give you an idea re specimen position / focusing.

By: tito

tito — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:56:08 +0000

Hmm, Droid is a good suggestion, it's probably much more hackable than the iPhone.

Tito

By: Sena

Sena — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:17:33 +0000

This sounds like a great idea but I think the iphone is probably not the best phone to use especially if you want to develop a software for the phone. From a developer’s perspective, perhaps a Droid phone might be more useful and it has a more powerful processer. Also, the accessibility to use the Droid on any computer is easier and doesn’t require certain software that the iphone does.

By: dusjagr

dusjagr — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:21:56 +0000

great idea with the i-phone. it shouldnt be too difficult. we have done some experimentation on the hackteria wiki about how to transform a ultra cheap digi-cam into a microscope, works perfect: http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_microscopy#hacking_a_digital_camera sorry the docu is still missing abit.

i have already been thinking to what extent the diy microscopes could be used in developing countries. and then when the cellscope got published was i was a bit confused about their approach in first of all using proper microscope objectives, ok their cheap and kinda accessible. but then if you have an objective, it usually comes with the microscope around it. and secondly, that the project is really sponsored by the big companies and they have even patented parts of it. kinda seems difficult to help the developing world by patenting…