Leti develops video-rate lens-free imaging technique for microscopy

Grenoble, France--CEA-Leti has introduced a new video lens-free microscope that can perform live capture and reach micron-size objects across a very large field of view (24 mm²). The microscope also enables time-lapse imaging of cell cultures over extended periods.

The instrument was unveiled at the start of Leti Innovation Days (June 25 to 28, 2013) in Grenoble.

The technique provides multiscale observation capability across two orders of magnitude, allowing researchers to differentiate between tissues and cells on the one hand, and bacteria and viruses on the other, according to the organization. Possible applications include drug screening, bioprocess monitoring, and portable diagnostics.

“Instead of using bulky microscopes to image biological systems at very high resolution, the simple and lightweight lens-free microscope -- which uses a CMOS sensor and an LED -- can provide time-lapse movies of thousands of cells per image and monitor cell cultures in real time,” says Leti researcher Cédric Allier, who helped develop the lens-free system.

High-throughput analysis of fundamental properties of cell populations (such as cell adhesion, cell division, cell migration, and cell morphology) can be performed without the necessity of markers, says CEA-Leti.