Friday 8th of July 9:00 - 12:00
UC2 workshop
Friday 8th of July 13:40 UC2 – A Versatile and Customizable low-cost 3D-printed Optical Open-Standard for microscopic imaging
With UC2 (You-See-Too) we present an inexpensive 3D-printed microscopy toolbox. The system is based on concepts of modular development, rapid-prototyping and all-time accessibility using widely available off-the-shelf optic and electronic components. We aim to democratize microscopy, reduce the reproduction crisis and enhance trust into science by making it available to everyone via an open-access public repository.
Due to its versatility the aim is to boost creativity and non-conventional approaches. In this paper, we demonstrate a development cycle from basic blocks to different microscopic techniques. First, we build a bright-field system and stress-test it by observing macrophage cell differentiation, apoptosis and proliferation incubator-enclosed for seven days with automatic focussing to minimize axial drift. We prove versatility by assembling a system using the same components to a fully working fluorescence light-sheet system and acquire a 3D volume of a GFP-expressing living drosophila larvae.
Finally, we sketch and demonstrate further possible setups to draw a picture on how the system can be used for reproducible prototyping in scientific research. All design files for replicating the experimental setups are provided via an open-access online repository (https://github.com/bionanoimaging/UC2-GIT) to foster widespread use.
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