A lensless, automated microscope for disease diagnostics

Optical microscopy is widely accepted as one of the gold standards in disease diagnosis. However, factors such as cost and the need for a trained eye limit the prevalence of such equipment, particularly in resource-limited areas such as rural clinics. Lensless microscopy, which is based on principles of digital holography, has illustrated the possibility of using simple and cheap optical components combined with software algorithms to implement microscope platforms. We present a digital in-line holographic microscope (DIHM) platform to be used with image processing and classification algorithms to provide a low cost, portable and automated microscope. Initial results show that the images obtained using the DIHM platform are similar to those obtained using a conventional bright field microscope. Applications of this work are targeted towards the implementation of a full blood count, which could provide resource-limited areas with improved healthcare facilities and diagnosis times.