Making microscopy portable and affordable

Customized microscopes have over the years evolved into huge and costly research tools. Many are difficult or even impossible to transport to where they are needed, such as another lab. Some fill up the better part of an entire room or have to be anchored to special tables that limit vibrations.

All this presents challenges for biologists who find it almost impossible to bring fragile specimens to microscope facilities or labs that develop the latest and best microscopes. Advanced microscopes can also cost millions of dollars each, putting them out of reach to all but those lucky researchers at top labs and universities.

Several years ago, we began work on a small, transportable, and relatively inexpensive microscope that could be shared by multiple researchers. The end result, what we call Flamingo, is about the size of a small suitcase and weighs only 40 pounds. Relatively easy to operate, they can be sent to even remote locations around the globe. There, researchers can use them to study delicate subjects that can’t survive a trip to a lab without being damaged. Because our microscopes will be used in many different ways, they are modular and, in consultation with our team here in Madison, can be reconfigured for specific research projects. And they cost only around $50,000. Flamingo also offers a technical step up called “light sheet” technology to let researchers observe in three dimensions a subject that is alive and moving, all with minimal loss of power and precision.

We now have 12 Flamingo microscopes that are either complete or soon will be. A couple are now in the field in Boston and San Diego.  And we are seeing a lot of interest for more. So far, we have had about 180 scientists tell us they are interested. We recently received support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to place a Morgridge Institute scientist in the Boston area to work with biologists at universities there who want to use Flamingo. We also received support earlier this year from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation to continue making core advances to light sheet microscopy.

Some researchers are using the light sheet technology to study the embryonic development of zebrafish. This work could help our understanding of the earliest formation of organs and even cell-by-cell development. Studying these fish when they are only four days old could help us learn about human embryonic diseases.

I would love to see Flamingo microscopes, or others like them, become widely available to scientists around the world. They have the potential to democratize science by opening up new opportunities to wide ranges of researchers and institutions. I expect educational institutions to show a real hunger for this opportunity. Flamingo itself also will no doubt improve. We encourage a real conversation between our engineers in Madison and scientists who are using it in the field, which will help us refine Flamingo in the years ahead.