Researchers develop an open source optical toolbox

Modern microscopes used for biological imaging are expensive, found in specialized laboratories, and require highly qualified personnel. The search for innovative and creative approaches to address pressing scientific issues, for example in the fight against infectious diseases such as COVID-19, is therefore primarily reserved for scientists from well-equipped research institutes in rich countries. A young research team from the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) in Jena, the Friedrich Schiller University and the University Hospital of Jena wants to change this: researchers have developed an optical toolbox to build microscopes for a few hundred resolution images comparable to commercial microscopes that cost a hundred to a thousand times more. With open-source designs, 3-D printer components and smartphone camera, the UC2 modular system (You. See. Too.) Can be combined specifically in the way the research question requires: from long-term observation of living organisms in from the incubator to an optics education toolbox. The research team presents its development on 25 November 2020 in the renowned magazine Nature Communications.

The basic building block of the UC2 system is a simple 3-D printable cube with an edge length of 5cm, which can accommodate a variety of components such as lenses, LEDs or cameras. Many of these cubes are placed on a magnetic raster baseplate. Cleverly designed, the modules are thus a powerful optical tool. An optical concept whereby the focal planes of adjacent lenses coincide is the basis for most complex optical configurations such as modern microscopes. With the UC2 toolbox, the Ph.D. research team, students from the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Rainer Heintzmann, Leibniz IPHT and the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, show how this intrinsically modular process can be intuitively understood in practical experiments . In this way, UC2 also provides users with no technical training an optical tool that they can use, modify and expand, depending on what they are looking for.

Monitor for pathogens and then recycle the contaminated microscope

Helge Ewers, professor of biochemistry at the Free University of Berlin and the Charité, is studying pathogens using the UC2 toolbox. “The UC2 system allows us to produce a high-quality, low-cost microscope with which we can observe living cells in an incubator,” he says. UC2 thus opens up areas of application for biomedical research for which conventional microscopes are not suitable. “Commercial microscopes that can be used to examine pathogens over a longer period of time cost hundreds or thousands of times more than our UC2 setup,” says Benedict Diederich, Ph.D. student at Leibniz-IPHT, who has developed there the optical toolbox together with René Lachmann. “You can hardly take them to a contaminated laboratory from which you may not be able to remove them because they cannot be cleaned easily.” The UC2 plastic microscope, on the other hand, can be easily burned or recycled after its proper use in the biological safety laboratory. For a study at the University Hospital of Jena, UC2’s team observed the differentiation of monocytes into macrophages in the incubator over a period of one week in order to gain insight into how the innate immune system fights pathogens in the body.

Building according to the Lego principle: from the idea to the prototype

Building according to the LEGO principle: This not only awakens users’ inner play instincts, the UC2 team notes, but also opens up new possibilities for researchers to design a tool tailored to their research question. “With our method, you can quickly assemble the right tool to map specific cells,” explains Benedict Diederich. “If, for example, a red wavelength is required as excitation, simply install the appropriate laser and change the filter. If an inverted microscope is required, stack the cubes accordingly. With the UC2 system, the elements can be combined according to the resolution, stability, durability or microscopy method required and tested directly in the “rapid prototyping” process.

The vision: open science

Researchers publish construction plans and software on the freely accessible online repository GitHub, so that the open source community around the world can access, rebuild, modify and expand the systems presented. “With user feedback, we improve the system step by step and always add new creative solutions,” says René Lachmann. Early adopters have already started expanding the system for themselves and their own purposes. “We are eager to see when we can present the first solutions for users.”

The goal behind this is to enable open science. Thanks to the detailed documentation, researchers can reproduce and further develop experiments anywhere in the world, even beyond well-equipped laboratories. “Change in Paradigm: Science for a Dime” is what Benedict Diederich calls this vision: to announce a paradigm shift in which the scientific process is as open and transparent as possible, freely accessible to all, in which researchers share their knowledge between them and incorporate it into their work.

The UC2 experiment box brings science to schools

In order to involve especially young people in the optics, the research group has developed a sophisticated set of tools for educational purposes in schools and universities. With “The Box” UC2 introduces a kit that allows users to learn about and try out optical concepts and microscopy methods. “The components can be combined to form a projector or a telescope; you can build a spectrometer or a microscope for smartphones”, explains Barbora Maršíková, who has developed experiments and a series of ready-to-use documentation that the UC2 team has already tested. in various seminars in and around Jena, as well as in the United States, Great Britain and Norway. In Jena, young researchers have already used the UC2 toolbox in several schools and, for example, helped pupils build a fluorescence microscope to detect microplastics. “We combined UC2 with our smartphone. This allowed us to build our fluorescence microscope cost-effectively without any important optical knowledge and to develop a relatively simple method for detecting plastic particles in cosmetics,” Emilia Walther reports. of the Montessori school in Jena, which together with her group is pursuing an innovative approach to interdisciplinary learning.

“We want to make modern microscopy techniques accessible to a broad audience,” says Benedict Diederich, “and create an open and creative microscopy community.” This DIY teaching approach has enormous potential, especially in times of the Corona pandemic, when access to home learning materials is severely limited.

Provided by Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology