Now, optical lens to transform smartphone camera into microscope

A team of scientists has created an optical lens that can be placed on an inexpensive smartphone to magnify images by a magnitude of 120, all for just 3 cents a lens.

University of Houston's Wei-Chuan Shih said that the lens can work as a microscope and the cost and ease of using the lens, which attaches directly to a smartphone camera lens sans the use of any additional device, make it ideal for use with younger students in the classroom.

It also could have clinical applications, allowing small or isolated clinics to share images with specialists located elsewhere, he said.

The lens is made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a polymer with the consistency of honey, dropped precisely on a preheated surface to cure. Lens curvature and therefore, magnification depends on how long and at what temperature the PDMS is heated, first-author Yu-Lung Sung said.

The resulting lenses are flexible, similar to a soft contact lens, although they are thicker and slightly smaller. The researchers wrote that the lens can transform a smartphone camera into a microscope by simply attaching the lens without any supporting attachments or mechanism.

They added that the strong, yet non-permanent adhesion between PDMS and glass allows the lens to be easily detached after use. An imaging resolution of 1 (micrometer) with an optical magnification of 120X has been achieved.

This lens attaches directly to the phone's camera lens and remains attached, Sung said, adding that it is reusable.

The study is published in the Journal of Biomedical Optics.