It is possible to turn a smartphone into a microscope? There are several modules on the market that apply to the cameras of our mobile devices. Some add thefish eye effectwhile others help the sensors to enhance the effect macro. An all-Italian research, however, has made it possible to create an additional lens that allows you to turn your smartphone into a scientific instrument to all effects. Let's go see the details.
A smartphone that turns into a microscope to analyze food and other substances? It is possible through an all-Italian lens
A silicone lens costing just a few cents turns your smartphone into a microscope to test for bacteria in water, food and wounds. This is what found in the laboratories of Department of Information Engineering of the University of Pisa the team led by Dr. Joseph Barillaro. According to the study, we understand the discovery of a new process for synthesizing optical filters starting from a transparent polymer. On it are inscribed with a suitably modified inkjet printer some noble metal nanoparticles (gold or silver).
But the really interesting thing is that the development, or rather manufacturing, of this lens is not alone economic but even more fast. If before, building such a lens took days, now it only takes a few minutes. Furthermore, the cost would amount to a few euro cents. Here is an abstract of the study:
The silicone polymer is found to have new properties if "decorated" with silver, gold, or a combination of both, and can be used for the production of optical filters (but not only) not based on the principles of standard optics, where the properties of the lens depend on its curvature and the angle of incidence of light, but on the phenomenon of plasmon resonance
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But what do smartphones have to do with it? The lens is deformable and durable, and it can be attached to the camera of a smartphone to obtain performances comparable to those of an expensive microscope tens of thousands of Euros.
Given the cost-effectiveness and speed of the procedure, it is possible to realize in poco time filters with different optical properties, depending on the necessary applications: analysis of bacteria on water, food and wounds, or analysis of materials exploited the possibility of doing fluorescence microscopy with a smartphone equipped with the lens.
