3D Printing a Low-Cost Miniature Accommodating Optical Microscope

This decade has witnessed the tremendous progress in miniaturizing optical imaging systems. Despite the advancements in 3D printing optical lenses at increasingly smaller dimensions, challenges remain in precisely manufacturing the dimensionally compatible optomechanical components and assembling them into a functional imaging system. To tackle this issue, the use of 3D printing to enable digitalized optomechanical component manufacturing, part-count-reduction design, and the inclusion of passive alignment features is reported here, all for the ease of system assembly. The key optomechanical components of a penny-sized accommodating optical microscope are 3D printed in 50 min at a significantly reduced unit cost near $4. By actuating a built-in voice-coil motor, its accommodating capability is validated to focus on specimens located at different distances, and a focus-stacking function is further utilized to greatly extend depth of field. The microscope can be readily customized and rapidly manufactured to respond to task-specific needs in form factor and optical characteristics.