折紙偏光顯微鏡能助你抗瘧疾
發布人：shpuda發布時間：2014/3/11
據普丹光學儀器公司表示，光學顯微鏡已經讓科學和醫學發生了徹底的變革。但在其問世后的400多年時間中，光學顯微鏡的關鍵部件既昂貴又易碎。馬努 普拉卡什和他的團隊尋求到了一種完美的解決方案——折紙偏光顯微鏡顯微鏡，成本不到50美分。
2012年的TED演講中，普拉卡什首次提到了該想法。在近期發表的一篇研究論文中，普拉卡什和他的團隊詳細說明了這種折疊顯微鏡。這種顯微鏡的各個部件都印在一張硬紙片上，無需說明書，只要按照各部件的顏色編碼進行剪切和折疊，借助靠手表供電可持續發光50小時的LED燈，裝上微型顯微鏡片，即可在幾分鐘內組裝成功一部具有可靠而精確的光學性能的手持顯微鏡。
這種成本低廉、持久耐用、方便攜帶的折紙顯微鏡看上去像是小科學迷的玩具，但其功能絕不僅限于此。它可以輕松識別導致賈第蟲病和瘧疾等疾病的微生物，因此即使醫生手邊沒有全套的專業裝備，也可靠它快速給出專業的診療意見。
希望在不久的將來，普拉卡什和他的團隊能夠把這樣的折紙偏光顯微鏡送到全世界醫生的手中。
普拉卡什的TED演講內容：
Genius Microscope Made From Folded Paper Could Help Fight Malaria
The light microscope changed science and medicine forever, but in the 400-plus years since it was invented, this crucial piece of equipment has gotten pretty expensive and fragile. Manu Prakash and his team have designed a brilliant solution—an origami microscope that costs less than 50 cents to make.
Prakash first showed the idea in a 2012 TED talk, and in a research paper published this week, Prakash and his team demonstrate the reliable, precise optical capabilities of their cheekily-named Foldscope. Basically, the outlines of the parts are printed on a legal-size sheet of cardboard, with the pieces cut and folded according to the color coding. No written instructions are required. With light from an LED, a watch battery that lasts 50 hours, and a tiny lens, the handheld microscope is ready to go in minutes.
It looks like a cool toy to get kids enthusiastic about science, but theres an even better purpose for the Foldscope. The microscopic organisms that cause diseases like giardiasis and malaria can be easily identified through a microscope, with positive identification guiding treatment. A cheap, long-lasting, easily transported microscope means quicker diagnosis and treatment in places where doctors cant count on a fully-stocked laboratory.
Lets hope Prakash and his team can get thousands of these ingenious devices into the hands of doctors worldwide.
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