Neuroscientists find new way to make lab equipment on the cheap

Using 3D printing, cheap microcomputers and some other components you could pick up at at your local electronics store, researchers have pioneered an open-source,do-it-yourself alternativetoprohibitively expensive lab equipment.

A study published Tuesdayin the journal Plos Biology explained how neuroscientists from the Universities of Tubingen in Germany and Sussex in the U.K. have createda low-cost imaging and microscope system for research, training and teaching.

Called "FlyPi," this set-upcosts less than $150 Cdn. That's a far cry from a more typical tab for new laboratory equipment, which can run into the hundreds of thousands.

Co-authorTom Baden, a neuroscientistand senior lecturer at the University of Sussex, said the system marries two low-cost approachesthat have been embraced by the maker community in recent years. These include3D printing andmicro-controllers ormicro-computers such aslike those made by Arduinoor Raspberry Pi.

"One obvious use is schools, I think. They don't usually have microscopes but it's very instructive for biology or whatever you want to use it for," said Baden.

TheFlyPican perform numerous standard lab functions ranging fromoptogenetics, the use of light to control cells,tobehavioural studieson small animals such as roundworms, fruit flies andzebrafishlarvae key speciesfor neuroscience modelling.

'More people than microscopes'

Its invention came about out of necessity when both Baden and lead authorAndr Maia Chagaswere working in Tanzania, where lab equipment was scarce.

"Across manyuniversitieson the continent [Africa], you'll find that equipment is a problem," said Baden. "There are microscopesaroundbut there are morepeople than microscopes."

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They started shopping around in cheap electronics departments for itemsthey could use, discovering that things like simple LED lights and web cams could be used in place of more expensive components.

Along withco-author LuciaPrietoGodinoof the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, they've sincetaught courses in 3D printing, programming and DIY lab equipment at universities in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Tanzania.

The developers share a keen interest in spreading "open labware" the laboratory equivalent of open-source software where code is made available to others to use, change and share.

'Faster and better'

"It's a community driven effort," said Baden."We stick it online, people say, 'you did this badly.'It makes things faster and better.The more people do it the better designs we get."

Technology like 3D printing had "made building stuff easier," he said. "The notion that scientists build things is not new. It's kind of a necessity of the job. There are some who like to doing that and some who avoid it when they can."

Until recently, building a new piece of laboratory equipment in an academicsetting required a trip to a university's mechanical or electronics workshop. This yieldsgood equipment but can be time consuming, said Baden.

Today scientists can try a design on a 3D printer, come to the conclusion it would workbetter with a hole drilled in a slightly different place, for instance, and try again.

"I think what's really happening here is that things are getting faster and cheaper to do."

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