The California Institute of Technology has developed a tiny microscope that can fit inside a cellphone. It could help in detecting pathogens in the developing countries and can also be implanted in humans to diagnose. Strangely, the microscope doesn’t use lens, which reduces the size of the device. Instead, it consists of a microfluidic channel on top, below that a metal coating and then a CCD sensor. The metal layer consists of tiny holes that are analogous to pixels and the microfluidic sample can carry a liquid sample like water or blood. The ‘Microscopic Microscope’ uses sunlight or another source of light and works quite similar to a pinhole camera. Since the imaging part is much smaller than the chip it is mounted on, it is possible to develop powerful devices, which contain thousands of microscopes on a single chip. Researchers speculate the microscopes could be mass-produced at a cost of $10 each.

Via: InventorSpot