From 2018 to 2020, we took Kickstarter and Indiegogo by storm with the Fingertip Microscopes – iMicro Q, iMicro C, and iMicro Q2, earning 20K pledges from the community over 40K iMicros delivered to our backers in over 70 countries. It is a breakthrough in portable microscopy – we’re pretty proud, and thank you all for your support.

We keep improving and polishing the iMicros, and we never stop – now we’ve taken our effort one step further and are pleased to bring you the new fingertip microscope – iMicro Q2p, the first smartphone microscope with polarizing function.

What is Fingertip Microscope (iMicro Q2p)?

Since Antony van Leeuwenhoek invented his microscope in the 17th century, microscope technology has progressed tremendously. Microscopes with excellent performance are usually bulky, heavy, and expensive, even for portable ones. With our years of effort, what we introduced in 2018 – the fingertip microscope iMicro Q – is a real breakthrough in mobile microscopy. It has the comparable optical performance to a professional desktop microscope and enables you to carry it with you as easily as you bring your phone. In addition to the iMicro Q’s excellent optical performance and portability, we launched iMicro Q2 in 2020 with enhanced compatibility to work with any smartphone.

Polarized light is a contrast-enhancing technique that improves the quality of the image obtained with birefringent materials, such as crystals, minerals, liquid crystals, and plastics. The polarized light microscope (polarizing microscope) is designed to observe and photograph specimens primarily due to its optically anisotropic character. Usually, a polarized light microscope is much more expensive and only available for professionals. Now with iMicro Q2p, in addition to the function of a typical biology microscope, we bring you this tiny Fingertip Microscope with the fantastic polarizing function.

Highlights

• The first smartphone polarizing microscope
• Improved focusing control with the focusing stand
• Very high magnification power: up to 800x
• Very high resolution power: Down to 1 micron
• Very low distortion: Comparable to a desktop microscope
• Shallow profile and weight: ½ inch and ~1/60 oz
• Extremely easy to carry: fit in wallet like a card
• Meager cost: ~1% of the price of a desktop microscope
• Compatible with any smartphone

Here are some micrographs taken with iMicro Q2p (using an iPhone 11):

Here are more example micrographs with polarizers and without polarizers – solid proof that the polarizing function dramatically enhanced the contrast with rich colors.

Key features of iMicro Q2p

The first smartphone polarizing microscope

To our knowledge, iMicro Q2p is the first smartphone microscope with the polarizing function integrated with such a small profile.

 Improved focusing control with the focusing stand 

Our previous backers queried a lot on a focusing stand/support to the fingertip microscopes. We listen to our backers, and we have worked hard on designing a convenient, flexible, intuitive stand to allow precision focusing. Finally, we have a satisfactory solution.  It works very well and is also simple to use. 

It has the same high magnification as iMicro Q and Q2. Here are the micrographs of the fiber from one dental floss. If you don’t have a microscope, you don’t know it has such a fine structure on this fiber. It is amazing!

Very high resolution

Resolution is more important than magnification when speaking about the performance of a microscope. The USAF 1951 resolution test chart was used to test the resolution of iMicro Q2p on an iPhone 11. The intervals between the finest test bars are 2.19 micrometers. The finest test bars on the 7th group are clearly seen, indicating its resolution is far beyond that.

Very low distortion

We used a grid calibration target to test the distortion. Even in full view at the edge of the visual field, no noticeable distortion was observed.

Extremely low profile

It is about the size of a fingertip and weighs only 0.5g (~1/60 oz). It is very thin, only 3.2mm (1/8 inch). No parts extrude beyond the edge of your phone when it is installed. Also, the focusing stand has not increased the profile regarding the whole pack – still in the card size and easily fit in a wallet.

Affordable to every budget

We are very proud of the Fingertip Microscope and would like everyone to be able to afford it. With a polarizing function, we can still keep it at a low cost. With the money you would need to buy a traditional desktop microscope, you could purchase many Fingertip Microscopes, making this a great option for children and students.

Works with any smartphone

As iMicro Q2 lens and iMicro C lens, we design iMicro Q2p in a tiny round style to fit any phone with a camera. They will be coupled to your smartphone by an innovative, re-useable, nano-suction pad. Whether your phone has a single back camera or multiple back cameras, a flat camera(s), or extruded camera(s), these tiny round lenses will fit well with them. 

Principle and development process

The magnification

The magnification mainly relies on its complex optical system for traditional compound microscopes, including objective and eyepiece. Its total magnification is a combination of the magnification of objective and eyepiece.

For our fingertip microscope, three stages of magnification are combined to achieve the total magnification. First, the lens provides optical magnification to generate the image on the smartphone camera’s sensor; second, the image on the sensor is displayed on the much larger screen via the electronic process and magnification; third, digital zoom provides further magnification as a digital magnification to the image. The total magnification is a combination of these three.

The traditional polarizing microscope has a complex structure. Especially a polarizer and another polarizer (analyzer) are added before and after the specimen in the optical system. For iMicro Q2p, we mimic this polarizing structure but keep it in a small profile.

Development path and process

We have walked a long way to develop these smartphone-based microscopic tools since registering the first patent in 2012. We have already successfully built a series of smartphone microscope products, including iMICROSCOPE, iMICROSCOPE R, and the μRuler, iMicro Q, iMicro C, iMicro Q2, as well as this new version iMicro Q2p.

We have shaped and polished our Fingertip Microscope idea according to previous backers’ and customers’ suggestions and comments based on our previous successful projects. We have optimized the optics and the overall design, and each step was tested and refined using prototypes to achieve the best performance possible.

Structure detail

The essential techniques 

Stress-free multi-element aspherical micro-lens with polarizer integrated

The lens is a crucial component of the system. A small ball lens (van Leeuwenhoek) is a straightforward approach. But it is well known to suffer from a very limited usable field of view due to severe field curvature effects, spherical and other aberrations. The iMicro Q2p uses a more complex multi-aspherical lens design and integrated polarizer to achieve high magnification performance and low aberration with polarizing function.

Innovative illumination: Reflection/transmission lighting with polarizer

In iMicro Q2p, we incorporated a new reflection/polarizing/transmission lighting. The thin PP case is not only used to pack and protect the product but also used as a light-reflective illumination box. The light from the flashlight and ambient light goes to the bottom of the lighting box and is reflected from the thin PP case’s bottom wall to illuminate the sample after being polarized. 

 Seamless coupling with the smartphone: Nano-suction pad attachment 

Unlike conventional adhesive, the nano suction pad mimics gecko’s footpads: it has thousands of micro air pockets functioning like micro-suction cups to hold the device to the phone.

Every on and off application will leave nothing on the phone. This newly developed “nano suction pad” is residue-free, non-tacky, and repeatable. The use of a nano suction pad has been proved in our previous product, and it is repeatable and easily cleaned by a PSA tape (such as Scotch tape).

Easy focus with focusing stand

We believe you will like this focusing stand – it works very well and keeps a low profile. It is made of engineering plastic (PMMA, acrylic resin) and is strong enough with durability. It is also very simple and easy to set up to use. After using it, you can disassembly it and store it in the thin PP case.

μRuler and Dedicated App: for professional needs

A high-quality μRuler M (stage micrometer) will be provided with iMicro Q2p to calibrate the scale-bar in our App, i-Seeing, and enable you to measure size accurately. Please see our previous campaign, μRuler- A micro-ruler to measure micro-objects, for more information. μRuler Q will be available as an add-on.

iMicro Q2p actually works with any camera App which can control the flashlight when shooting or you provide illumination with an extra torch. In some cases, it is crucial to have a scale-bar and ensure its accuracy on the micrograph. The dedicated App, i-Seeing, was designed to take micrographs to meet professional demand. The scale-bar on the micrograph can be toggled on/off to enable you to embed a scale-bar on the image if required.

Comparison of iMicro Q2,  C, and Q2p

What people say about Fingertip Microscope

Application

It is super portable, and you don’t need complicated settings, so you can immediately take images, use them for reporting and transferring images to your colleagues. Plus, you can use it with any smartphone. It can be used in many professions where you need accurate images and easily accessible research photographs in the field. 

Many of our previous backers shared their application with beautiful and unique pictures when using the fingertip microscopes. Here are a few examples. Many of them are from our previous backers’ photos with the iMicro Q2 and iMicro C on their phones; Some of them are our test photos for the polarizing function. With the polarizing function, you will have more power for its application.

Highlights

Rewards

Timeline