This Folding Microscope Made From A Single Sheet Of Paper Can Save A Billion Lives

TED fellow Manu Prakash and team have invented a microscope (which they call Foldscope) that is easy to use and fold from a single sheet of A4 size paper! The cost of this microscope is 50 cents (or Rs. 30) only. Wath this amazing demo where Manu shows how the 'Foldscope' can revolutionize health care.

By TBI Team

February 8, 2015

The Microscope is something we’ve mostly seen in our school labs and in a few health care centres. However, it is still largely an expensive instrument and requires elaborate amount of learning to use it regularly. It is also not easy to have them carried out into the field to do quick diagnosis of diseases.

This is where Manu Prakash and his team’s invention comes into the picture – they have invented a microscope (called Foldscope) that is made out of paper that is extremely easy to fold and use!

An entire working microscope is on this single A4 size sheet of paper!

And this microscope costs approximately 50 cents (Rs. 30) only!

In this demo, Manu shows how his invention can really revolutionize healthcare. The best part is how versatile these paper microscopes are!

About Manu Prakash

Born in Meerut, India, Prakash earned a BTech in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur before moving to the United States. He did his master’s and PhD in applied physics at MIT before founding the Prakash Lab at Stanford.

Courtesy: Ted.com

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