Paper Microscope

(Manu Prakash discussing his foldscope at a TED talk above)

Manu Prakash, an assistant professor, physicist, and bioengineer at Stanford University has created a revolutionary scientific instrument. The current cost of a simple light microscope ranges from $150 - $400. In 3rd world countries such as India, Thailand, and Uganda, where hospitals have extremely low budgets, purchasing a single microscope is not possible. Manu Prakash has invented the solution to this problem, a paper microscope, also known as the foldscope. The foldscope can be simply printed out on paper, and works almost as well as a regular light microscope. The advantage? One microscope take 50 cents to make and can easily be folded into its functional form. There are no directions to assemble the microscope, it is 100% color coded, so anyone can fold it together. Also, it is extremely light because of its paper construction. In developing countries, these microscopes will be able to aid disease diagnosis at a minimal price, saving thousands of lives. Unfortunately, there is not too much information on the foldscope, considering it was just recently invented and is still being tested. On November 1, Dr. Prakash received $100,000 of funding by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to field test and finalize his foldscope instrument. If all goes as planned, he will receive an additional grant of up to $1 million. Manu Prakash's work inspires me and many other scientists. Dr. Prakash was born in Indian to a family without a fridge, and now he has risen to give back. This invention will save millions of lives in developing countries and will hopefully result in the creation of more cheap instruments such as the foldscope. Manu Prakash is my opinion of the perfect scientist; one who creates to help, not to make money or gain recognition.

Sources for this post and more information in the following links. There will soon be more information about the foldscope online:

http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2012/november/brief-microscope-1105.html

http://blog.ted.com/2012/06/26/2-ways-of-holding-an-idea-report-from-ted-university-session-1/

http://www.stanford.edu/~manup/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jul/01/build-satellite-shed-new-diy-revolution

http://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Manu_Prakash/