Developing the OpenFlexure Microscope Towards Medical Use: Technical and Social Challenges of Developing Globally Accessible Hardware for Healthcare

Authors

Joe Knapper
Freya Whiteford
Daniel Rosen
William Wadsworth
Julian Stirling
Catherine Mkindi
Joram Mduda
Valerian L Sanga
Paul T Nyakyi
Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou
Elisée Jafsia
Stephane Fadanka
Kelsey Hummel
Sharmila Anandasabapathy
Richard Bowman

Publication Date

7-9-2024

Journal

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A

DOI

10.1098/rsta.2023.0257

PMID

38826050

PMCID

PMC11448745

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

6-3-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-Print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Microscopy, Humans, Robotics, Equipment Design, Printing, Three-Dimensional, Delivery of Health Care, Software, Point-of-Care Systems, global health, open source, pathology, microscopy

Abstract

The OpenFlexure Microscope is an accessible, three-dimensional-printed robotic microscope, with sufficient image quality to resolve diagnostic features including parasites and cancerous cells. As access to lab-grade microscopes is a major challenge in global healthcare, the OpenFlexure Microscope has been developed to be manufactured, maintained and used in remote environments, supporting point-of-care diagnosis. The steps taken in transforming the hardware and software from an academic prototype towards an accepted medical device include addressing technical and social challenges, and are key for any innovation targeting improved effectiveness in low-resource healthcare. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Open, reproducible hardware for microscopy'.

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