A 3D-printed, modular microscope for demonstrating light-sheet microscopy (and more) to public audiences

Designed by Ian Black and Chas Nelson

School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, UK

Microscopy is a visual and exciting field. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a microscope must be worth at least one Shakespeare (884,421 words). But demonstrating how microscopes work to a non-specialist audience can be challenging. We have developed a 3D-printed, modular kit that is already being used in prison outreach, for high-school-level projects and at public outreach events to demonstrate the fundamentals of microscopy.

Our modular design is not dissimilar to a rail-like optical bench and the pieces we provide designs for can be used in any combination for illumination, optics (lens holders) and imaging (with Raspberry Pi and the Pi Camera) as well as supporting a wide range of expandable configurations and outputs/displays (with the official Raspberry Pi touch display).

Here we demonstrate our rationale for the design used; the hiccups and challenges faced along the way; and we present our system in the configuration of a light sheet fluorescence microscope that we have used in public outreach and hope to use with a wide range of audiences in coming years.