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'FlatScope' - Lens-Free, Super-Thin Microscope

Lenses are no longer necessary, according to Rice University engineers developing a fluorescent microscope as thin as a credit card. 'FlatScope' eliminates the tradeoff that hinders traditional microscopes in which arrays of lenses can either gather less light from a large field of view, or gather more light from a smaller field. In a paper published in Science Advances , the researchers say FlatScope could be used as an implantable endoscope, a large-area imager, or a flexible microscope.