Christopher Jay, Rooney Liam M, Donnachie Mark, Uttamchandani Deepak, McConnell Gail, Bauer Ralf
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
Biomed Opt Express. 2024 Mar 7;15(4):2224-2237. doi: 10.1364/BOE.514653. eCollection 2024 Apr 1.
We present the fabrication and implementation of low-cost optical quality 3D printed lenses, and their application as microscope objectives with different prescriptions. The imaging performance of the 3D printed lenses was benchmarked against commercially available optics including a 20 mm focal length 12.7 mm diameter NBK-7 plano-convex lens used as a low magnification objective, and a separate high magnification objective featuring three 6 mm diameter NBK-7 lenses with different positive and negative focal lengths. We describe the design and manufacturing processes to produce high-quality 3D printed lenses. We tested their surface quality using a stylus profilometer, showing that they conform to that of commercial glass counterpart lenses. The 3D printed lenses were used as microscope objectives in both brightfield and epi-fluorescence imaging of specimens including onion, cyanobacteria, and variegated leaves, demonstrating a sub-cellular resolution performance obtained with low-cost 3D printed optical elements within brightfield and fluorescence microscopy.
我们展示了低成本光学质量3D打印透镜的制造与应用，并将其用作具有不同光学参数的显微镜物镜。将3D打印透镜的成像性能与市售光学器件进行了对比，其中包括一个焦距为20 mm、直径为12.7 mm的NBK-7平凸透镜，用作低倍物镜，以及一个单独的高倍物镜，它由三个直径为6 mm、具有不同正负焦距的NBK-7透镜组成。我们描述了生产高质量3D打印透镜的设计和制造过程。我们使用触针轮廓仪测试了它们的表面质量，结果表明其与商用玻璃对应透镜的表面质量相符。3D打印透镜被用作显微镜物镜，用于洋葱、蓝细菌和杂色叶片等标本的明场和落射荧光成像，证明了在明场和荧光显微镜下使用低成本3D打印光学元件可获得亚细胞分辨率性能。
