AutoScope : Part 1 : Overview

Dr. Dan Kott, a member of our local maker community, came to us with a problem. He had come across a microscope automation project created by a pathologist in Australia. Because of other commitments, the Australian doctor was unable to complete the project, and Dan wanted to complete it.

The idea is this: automate an inexpensive, but good quality, microscope. In other words, motorize the stage. Instead of manually moving knobs, motors and a microcontroller would take the place of your hands.

Why do this?

  1. You can make the microscope joystick controlled. This means you can remotely move around a slide. Very handy in a teaching situation where a video camera is connected to the microscope and the teacher is pointing at an overhead projection.
  2. Samples can be “marked up” for reference. An automated scope knows exactly where X/Y are on the sample slide. Therefore, a physician can find an element of interest, say a cancer, note it’s location, then give the slide and location to a student for review. (“See position 1456, 2345 — that’s an abnormal cell wall.”)
  3. Slides can be automatically scanned. The automated microscope setup means that an entire slide can be photographed in very high resolution. Those photos can be “stitched” together to make a single high resolution image.

While Dan had some videos of the rig, and copies of the 3D models for holding the motors, there were a number of challenges. These included:

  • Creating gears which would fit onto the existing knobs of a common series of microscope.
  • Determining which stepper motor controllers and software to use.
  • Choosing a microcontroller and writing code for it.
  • Getting the basic setup to work, so that additional functionality can be added.

First stop: the gears.