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Low-cost 3D-printed optics for super-resolution multifocal structured illumination microscopy.

Jay Christopher1, Liam M Rooney2,3, Charlie Butterworth1

  • 1Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.

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|February 16, 2026
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed a low-cost 3D-printing method for fabricating optical quality lenslet arrays. This breakthrough enables super-resolution fluorescence imaging with 3D-printed optics for the first time, achieving high performance at minimal cost.

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Area of Science:

  • Optical engineering
  • Microscopy
  • 3D printing

Background:

  • Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) offers super-resolution imaging.
  • Traditional SIM often relies on expensive, high-quality optics.
  • Integrating custom optics can enhance SIM performance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a low-cost 3D-printing method for fabricating optical quality lenslet arrays.
  • To integrate these 3D-printed optics into a multifocal structured illumination microscope (mSIM).
  • To demonstrate super-resolution fluorescence imaging using 3D-printed optics for the first time.

Main Methods:

  • Fabrication of lenslet arrays using a low-cost 3D-printing technique.
  • Characterization of surface roughness for 3D-printed optics compared to commercial glass optics.
  • Benchmarking imaging performance in a custom mSIM setup, evaluating beam profile and lateral resolution.

Main Results:

  • Achieved comparable surface roughness for 3D-printed optics (30 ± 2.5 nm) versus commercial glass optics (37 ± 1.4 nm).
  • Demonstrated super-resolution imaging with a 3D-printed honeycomb lenslet array, achieving a lateral resolution of 151 ± 12 nm.
  • The 3D-printed optics achieved similar resolution enhancement as high-end commercial microlens arrays.

Conclusions:

  • Low-cost 3D-printed optics can be successfully integrated into mSIM for super-resolution fluorescence imaging.
  • The custom honeycomb lenslet geometry offers advantages in background rejection.
  • This approach provides a cost-effective alternative for high-performance super-resolution microscopy.