Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Sep 8;16(1):8241.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63691-w.

A roadmap for the widespread adoption of frugal microscopes

Mai A Rahmoon  1 , Chad M Hobson  1 , Teng-Leong Chew  1 , Jesse S Aaron  2
Affiliations

A roadmap for the widespread adoption of frugal microscopes

Mai A Rahmoon et al. Nat Commun. .

Abstract

Microscopy drives biological discovery, yet high costs limit its access to resource-limited regions. We highlight examples of successful frugal microscopes that have overcome adoption barriers, offering a roadmap to expand affordable, quantitative imaging tools and foster impactful research in resource-limited settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Key factors contributing to successful microscopy technology adoption.
The framework is represented by three main pillars: Microscope Design, emphasizing flexibility, modularity, robustness, and portability; Support, focusing on dedicated staff, in-person training, and long-term maintenance; and Dissemination, highlighting direct engagement between developers, disseminators, and users, as well as fostering user communities, and formation of commercial partnerships. These pillars together form a strong foundation for the effective adoption of microscopy technologies in underserved communities.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aaron, J. S. et al. Challenges of microscopy technology dissemination to resource-constrained communities. Nat. Methods 1–5. 10.1038/s41592-025-02690-7(2025). - PubMed
    1. Marder, E. The haves and the have nots. eLife2, e01515 (2013). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dolgin, E. How to start a lab when funds are tight. Nature559, 291–293 (2018). - PubMed
    1. Hohlbein, J. et al. Open microscopy in the life sciences: quo vadis?. Nat. Methods19, 1020–1025 (2022). - PubMed
    1. Breslauer, D. N., Maamari, R. N., Switz, N. A., Lam, W. A. & Fletcher, D. A. Mobile Phone Based Clinical Microscopy for Global Health Applications. PLoS ONE4, e6320 (2009). - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources