{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T23:27:19Z","timestamp":1768346839603,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,21]],"date-time":"2023-11-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1700524800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006001","name":"Ateneo de Manila University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["URC 2022-15"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["URC 2022-15"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosglobalpublichealth.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLOS Glob Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Philippine clinical laboratory licensing requirements mandate that diagnostic microscopy for Tuberculosis (TB) sputum microscopy, urinalysis, pap smears, wet smears, an option for complete blood count, stool exams, and malaria thick and thin smears should be accessible and available in health facilities including primary care centers. However, access to these essential diagnostics is hampered by the lack of trained personnel, relatively high costs for supplies and equipment especially in rural and underserved areas. This served as motivation for our team to utilize accessible resources in the form of affordable 3D printers, available CAD software, and components to build our low-cost Openflexure microscope (OFM) prototype. We successfully fabricated our prototype for a total of 310$ with a weight of 525g. We used pathology teaching slides from the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health and examined the OFM prototype imaging capabilities. The calculated image resolution was 13% higher compared to an LED light microscope sample captured by a mobile phone at 40x and 15% for 100x. The sampled slide images had adequate clarity with some identifiable cellular features for Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), Tuberculosis in soft tissue, and Ascariasis. We were able to correct the color aberrations of the OFM we built and was able to scan images up to 1000x magnification without using oil. Given the features and cost, the OFM prototype can be an attractive and affordable option as an alternative or augmentation to diagnostic microscopy in Philippine primary care. Moreover, it may enable telepathology to support diagnostic microscopy in frontline care.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0002070","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,21]],"date-time":"2023-11-21T18:22:25Z","timestamp":1700590945000},"page":"e0002070","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pgph.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Utilization of accessible resources in the fabrication of an affordable, portable, high-resolution, 3D printed, digital microscope for Philippine diagnostic applications"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"3","author":[{"given":"Mark Kristan Espejo","family":"Cabello","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0457-0110","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jeremie E.","family":"De Guzman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref001","author":"Philippines Department of Health","journal-title":"Philippines DOH Administrative Order 2021\u20130037 New rules and regulations Governing the regulation of Clinical Laboratories in the Philippines."},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref002","journal-title":"Department of Health Schistosomiasis Control Program"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref003","journal-title":"Malaria Control and Elimination Program | Department of Health website"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100375","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lanwpc.2021.100375","article-title":"Availability of essential diagnostics in the Philippines","volume":"19","author":"NRI Alberto","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet Reg Health West Pac"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"759","DOI":"10.1586\/17434440.4.6.759","article-title":"Barriers for medical devices for the developing world.","volume":"4","author":"RA Malkin","year":"2007","journal-title":"Expert Review of Medical Devices"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref006","journal-title":"Microscope, CX23LED OLYMPUS\u2013Philippine Medical Supplies"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3270","DOI":"10.1002\/jemt.24200","article-title":"A review on low-cost microscopes for Open Science","volume":"85","author":"J Salido","year":"2022","journal-title":"Microscopy Research and Technique"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1111\/jmi.13064","article-title":"Fast, high-precision autofocus on a motorised microscope: Automating blood sample imaging on the OpenFlexure Microscope","volume":"285","author":"J Knapper","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Microscopy"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref009","article-title":"About the OpenFlexure project","journal-title":"In: OpenFlexure Project [Internet]."},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2019.00264","article-title":"Telepathology in Low Resource African Settings.","volume":"7","author":"N Orah","year":"2019","journal-title":"Frontiers in Public Health."},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"78","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjinnov-2015-000080","article-title":"Open-source hardware for medical devices","volume":"2","author":"G Niezen","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMJ Innov"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e00139","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ohx.2020.e00139","article-title":"Economic savings for scientific free and open source technology: A review.","volume":"8","author":"JM Pearce","year":"2020","journal-title":"HardwareX."},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6362","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2021-006362","article-title":"Local manufacturing, local supply chains and health security in Africa: Lessons from COVID-19.","volume":"6","author":"G Banda","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMJ Global Health"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref014","first-page":"1","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2011","journal-title":"Local Production and Technology Transfer to Increase Access to Medical Devices: Addressing the barriers and challenges in low- and middle-income countries"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref015","journal-title":"OpenFlexure Microscope\u2014Assembly Instructions"},{"key":"pgph.0002070.ref016","volume-title":"Wheater\u2019s pathology: a text, atlas and review of histopathology","author":"G. 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