AWARD YEAR
2015
CATEGORY
Body
GOALS
Good Health & Well-being
KEYWORDS
health, diseases, microscope
COUNTRY
United States of America
DESIGNED BY
Manu Prakash
WEBSITE
http://www.foldscope.com
Foldscope
Foldscope is a cheap paper microscope that can be used to diagnose illnesses.
What if every person in the world could carry a microscope around in their pocket? That is the idea behind the foldscope, a 50-cent print-and-fold paper mass produced microscope. Foldscopes can be made to perform brightfield, darkfield, fluorescence, and polarization microscopy, and can reach submicron resolution. With applications ranging from global health to citizen science and K-12 education, Manu Prakash and his team's goal is to get a foldscope in the hands of anyone, anywhere, interested in viewing the microscopic world. An educational and cheap solution that democratizes people’s understanding of physics.