Miniaturized Microscope Shows Interior of Cells

A new miniaturized microscope is being developed that is 500 to 1,000 times smaller than anything in its class, according to scientists at the University of California at Berkeley (San Francisco, USA).

The new microscope is called micro confocal imaging array, or micro-CIA, which belongs to a group of devices known as bio-polymer-opto-electro-mechanical-systems, or BioPOEMS. The Micro-CIA was invented by Luke P. Lee, assistant professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley. BioPOEMS combine the world of optics with that of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), for use in biologic applications. Dr. Lee foresees a future where doctors can view the DNA of tumor cells inside a patient as cancer drugs are delivered, or where antiterrorism units can identify single molecules of a biowarfare agent on site with a portable detector.

Dr. Lee and a colleague have captured an image of a plant cell with the microlens, which is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. To test the accuracy of the microlens and scanner, they placed a cell sample taken from a flowering lily onto the platform of a conventional confocal microscope. Without moving the sample, they then captured a cross-sectional image of the cell wall, first with the traditional microscope and then with the microlens scanner. They found that the two images matched, showing that the microscopic lens could perform as well as a conventional one.

Dr. Lee says the size and sensitivity of the micro-CIA would allow technicians to quickly test even trace amounts of anthrax or smallpox in the field. The micro-CIA could also become a crucial part of a lab-on-a-chip, where researchers study genes and proteins.
"You could put this device on the tip of an endoscope that could be guided inside a cancer patient,” said Dr. Lee. "Doctors could then see how tumor cells behave in vivo. It would also be feasible to deliver drugs directly to the tumor cell, and then view how the cell responds to the drugs.”





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