Rapid and high-throughput microalgae monitoring platform based on lens-free shadow imaging technology

Abstract

Microalgae have been employed and studied by various research fields including alternative energy1, environmental science, pharmaceutics2, or toxicology3. Most of studies for microalgae analyzed them by counting the cells, determining the byproducts, or dissolving the cells to check internal materials. However, those analytical methods are extremely labor intensive and time consuming and also require specialists and expensive equipment. In this study, we propose a rapid and high-throughput microalgae monitoring platform based on lens-free shadow image technology (LSIT)4, which utilizes the changes of diffraction or shadow patterns for counting and differentiate of micro-objects or checking the viability of cells, or evaluating other critical characteristics within a low-cost and compact platform mainly composed of light emitting diode (LED) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor.