iMicro

What is Fingertip Microscope (iMicro Q2)?

Since Antony van Leeuwenhoek invented his microscope in the 17th century, there has been
tremendous progress in microscope technology. Microscopes with excellent performance are
usually bulky, heavy, and expensive, even for portable ones. With our years of effort, what we
introduced in 2018 - the fingertip microscope iMicro Q - is a real breakthrough in mobile
microscopy. It has comparable optical performance to a professional desktop microscope and
enables you to carry it with you as easily as you bring your phone. In addition to the iMicro Q's
excellent optical performance and portability, iMicro Q2 has a new design to enable it to work with
any smartphone.

Highlights
 Very high magnification power: up to 800x
 Very low distortion: comparable to a desktop microscope
 Very high resolution power: down to 1 micron
 Extremely easy to use: "Stick and Play" with your phone
 Extremely low profile and weight: ½ inch and ~1/60 oz
 Extremely easy to carry: fit in wallet like a card
 Extremely low cost: ~1% of the price of a desktop microscope
 Compatible with any smartphone  

Key features of iMicro Q2

 Extremely high magnification: up to 800x

It has the same high magnification as iMicro Q. When used with a smartphone, it can observe, for
example, at full view the mouth part of the housefly at a magnification of ~100x, and then zoom in
detail up to 800x magnification. It is able clearly to see the spiral structure of the tip of the
mouthpart at high magnification. If you don't have a microscope, you never know a housefly has
such a fine structure at its mouth part. It is amazing!

 Very high resolution

The clear observation of the spiral structure of the mouth part of the housefly is already proof of its
high resolution. We did some further tests: the USAF 1951 resolution test chart was used to test
the resolution of iMicro Q2 on an iPhone 11. The intervals between the finest test bars are 2.19
micrometers. The finest test bars on the 7th group are clearly seen, indicating its resolution is far
beyond that.
  Very low distortion

A grid calibration target was used to test the distortion. Even in full view at the edge of the visual
field, no noticeable distortion was observed.

Based on this optical performance test, iMicro Q2 has excellent optical performance, definitely
comparable to a desktop compound microscope.

A stem of xylophytadicotylendon T.S. was observed under iMicro Q2 as well as a desktop

microscope Motic DMB-1223 (price ~2200USD for microscope + 500USD for camera attachment).
No noticeable difference was observed, as shown in a side-by-side comparison.

 Extremely low profile

It is about the size of a fingertip and weighs only 0.5g (~1/60 oz). It is very thin, only 3.2mm (1/8
inch). No parts extrude beyond the edge of your phone when it is installed. Also, We considered
the portability of the package from the beginning of the design. It is packed in a card size thin PP
case which is easy to fit into your wallet!

 Extremely easy to use

The Fingertip microscope is different from a comprehensive desktop microscope - it does not
introduce a bulky and expensive focus tuning system. In contrast, the iMicro Q2 has no knobs and
buttons at all. Compared with the original iMicro Q, the new iMicro Q2 is more comfortable to align
and attach to your phone's camera. Just connect and point closely towards what you want to see,
and it works!

 Affordable to every budget

We are very proud of the Fingertip Microscope and would like everyone to be able to afford it. Even
though it has such an excellent performance, we tagged with an attractive price: ~1 percent of a
traditional desktop microscope cost. With the money you would need to buy a traditional desktop
microscope, you will be able to purchase many Fingertip Microscopes, making this great for
children and students.

 Works with any smartphone

When we launched iMicro Q, we were often asked: does this work with my phone? There is no
more confusion with iMicro Q2: We design it to work with any phone with a camera. iMicro Q2 will
be coupled to your smartphone by an innovative, re-useable, nano-suction pad. Whether your
phone has a single back camera or multiple back cameras, a flat camera(s), or extruded
camera(s), the iMicro Q2 will work with them all. Please see the picture for your reference to see
how it looks with different camera configurations.

Principle and development process

 How it works

The magnification mainly relies on its complex optical system for traditional compound
microscopes, including objective and eyepiece. Its total magnification is a combination of the
magnification of objective and eyepiece.
For our fingertip microscope, three stages of magnification are combined to achieve the total
magnification. First, the lens provides optical magnification to generate the image on the
smartphone camera's sensor; second, the image on the sensor is displayed on the much larger
screen via the electronic process and magnification; third, digital zoom provides further
magnification as a digital magnification to the image. The total magnification is a combination of
these three.

Therefore, iMicro Q2 uses a different process and technology compared to a traditional

microscope. Thanks to the advance of micro-optics and smartphone technology, and with the effort
and expertise accumulated in the past years, we have enabled iMicro Q2 to achieve excellent
performance at a low cost.

 Development path and process

We walked a long way to develop these smartphone-based microscopic tools since registering the
first patent in 2012. We have already successfully built a series of smartphone microscope
products, including iMICROSCOPE, iMICROSCOPE R, and the μRuler, iMicro Q, iMicro C as well
as this new version iMicro Q2.

We have shaped and polished our Fingertip Microscope idea according to previous backers' and
customers' suggestions and comments based on our previous successful projects. We have
optimized the optics and the overall design, and each step was tested and refined using prototypes
to achieve the best performance possible.\

The essential techniques to achieve its high

performance
 Dedicated optics: multi-element aspherical micro-lens

The lens is a crucial component of the system. A small ball lens (van Leeuwenhoek) is a
straightforward approach. But it is well known to suffer from a very limited usable field of view due
to severe field curvature effects, spherical and other aberrations. The iMicro Q2 uses a more
complex multi-aspherical lens with a dedicated design to achieve both the high performance of
magnification and low aberration.

  Innovative illumination: Reflection/transmission light design 

Light and illumination are essential to microscopy. Nowadays, every smartphone comes with a
camera as well as a flashlight. The original iMicro Q used a light guide technique to introduce the
light to the point of the lens field of view. iMicro Q is a great design but incurs a compatibility
problem with some of the phones with a long distance between the camera lens and flash.

In iMicro Q2, we incorporated a new innovative design: Reflective/Transmission illumination. In this

design, the thin PP case is not only used to pack and protect the product but also used as a light-
reflective illumination box. The light from the flashlight and ambient light go into the transparent
light guide to illuminate the sample. Simultaneously, the light is also reflected from the thin PP
case's bottom wall to illuminate the sample. Because of this design, the Reflection/Transmission
illumination achieves its high performance with flexibility to work with all the different phone camera
lens - flash configurations and therefore being compatible with any smartphone. Even for the
phones/pads which do not have a flashlight, it works well with just good ambient light illumination or
using close to an ambient light source.

  Seamless coupling with the smartphone: Nano-suction pad attachment 

Compared to conventional adhesive, the nano suction pad mimics gecko's foot-pads: it has
thousands of micro air pockets functioning like micro-suction cups to hold the device to the phone. 

Every on and off application will leave nothing on the phone. This newly developed "nano suction
pad" is residue-free, non-tacky, and repeatable. The use of a nano-suction pad has been proved in
our previous product, and it is repeatable and easily cleaned by a PSA tape (such as Scotch tape).

 PLAY
 Precise focus control: automatic + manual focus

Every smartphone now has an auto-focus function. When iMicro Q2 is coupled with your
smartphone, this automatic focus function also works. We have precisely designed and machined
iMicro Q2 to control the focus point accurately. As long as you point it closely towards a sample
plane, the sample falls into the autofocus range, and it will automatically focus for a clear image.

 μRuler and Dedicated App: for professional needs

A high-quality μRuler (stage micrometer) will be provided (as an option) with iMicro Q2 to calibrate
the scale-bar in our App, i-Seeing, and enable you to measure size accurately. Please see our
previous campaign, μRuler- A micro-ruler to measure micro-objects, for more information.

iMicro Q2 actually works with any camera App which can control the flashlight when shooting. In
some cases, it is crucial to have a scale-bar and ensure its accuracy on the micrograph. The
dedicated App, i-Seeing, was designed to take micrographs to meet professional demand. The
scale-bar on the micrograph can be toggled on/off to enable you to embed a scale-bar on the
image if required.

How to use it?

The iMicro Q2 is very easy to align and attach to the phone's camera. Just connect and point
closely towards what you want to see, and it works!

 PLAY

Critical improvements compared with iMicro Q

   Better optical performance - Although the lens optical technology is the same as with iMicro Q, we
optimized the design of Q2 regarding structure and production stability. These improvements ensure the
best performance and excellence in lens optics.
  Smaller and lighter - it is smaller and lighter and, more importantly, it has a round shape with optimized
size, which enables it to stay firmly and stably attached to the camera lens.
  Easier to use - Thanks to its thin and round shape, it is easier to align with and attach to the camera lens.
  Works with any camera phone - The essential improvement is that it should work with any camera
phone with dramatic evolution in compatibility with this new design.

Comparison between iMicro Q2 and iMicro C

The picture shows the comparison of the same scale target being observed with iMicro C and
iMicro Q2 (when no digital zoom is applied), so you can compare their visual field. You will see
they are complementary: iMicro C has a lower magnification and a larger visual field, while iMicro
Q2 has a higher magnification and a high resolution. The detailed comparison between iMicro Q2
and iMicro C is shown in the table. They are both suitable for different yet complementary
purposes. 

Also, both are easily packed in the same thin PP case, so you can quickly have both available to
use at any time. We have set an option in the rewards for both of them.

Application examples
It is super portable, and you don't need complicated settings, so you can immediately take images,
use it for reporting, and transfer images to your colleagues. Plus, you can use it with any
smartphone. It can be used in many professions where you need accurate changes and immediate
research in the field. For example, it can monitor a knife's sharpening process, check the masks'
quality, and measure small machinery parts' quality. It can also check the mounting of samples on
a TEM grid, check the quality and texture of cloth, identify the counterfeit, evaluate the printing
quality, and check the flaws in jewelry and many other applications. It is not just a tool and can also
be used for a lot of fun: parents might use it during play to explore the wonderful micro-world with
their child.

Many of our previous backers shared their beautiful and amazing pictures when they used the
fingertip microscopes. Here are a few examples of previous backers' photos with the iMicro Q and
iMicro C on their phones.