Blood-Coated Sensor for High-Throughput Ptychographic Cytometry on a Blu-ray Disc

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Microscopy
• Computational Imaging

Background:

• Traditional optical microscopy is often limited by cost, portability, and field of view.
• High-throughput analysis of biospecimens requires advanced imaging techniques.
• Repurposing existing technologies can offer innovative solutions for scientific challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, high-throughput cytometric analysis device using a modified Blu-ray drive.
• To demonstrate the capability of this device for lensless coherent diffraction imaging.
• To explore applications in diagnostics and biological research.

Main Methods:

• Integration of a blood-coated image sensor with a modified Blu-ray drive.
• Samples mounted on a rotating Blu-ray disc, illuminated by integrated lasers.
• Coherent diffraction patterns recorded by the sensor, enabling lensless imaging via rotational ptychography.

Main Results:

• The system achieved resolution of 435 nm line width.
• Demonstrated a field of view limited only by the Blu-ray disc size.
• Successfully performed high-throughput urinalysis, blood smear cell quantification (∼10,000 cells/sec), and live bacterial culture monitoring.

Conclusions:

• Biological cells can function as a computational lens, enabling novel imaging devices.
• Modified Blu-ray drives offer a low-cost, high-throughput optical microscopy platform.
• This technology has potential for point-of-care diagnostics and citizen science applications.