Low-cost and high-precision stepping motor controlled multi-point automatic time-lapse microscope

Background: Presently, time-lapse imaging is widely used in many fields in science. In the field of cell biology, it is frequently used in wound healing assay to access the migration and proliferation of cells. To assess the effect of drugs on cell migration and proliferation, it is important to obtain the time-lapse image of many conditions in one experiment. However, the commercially available motorized stage with the control program is expensive. The aim of this study is to make a hand-made multipoint time-lapse microscope using a stepping motor. Method and Result: To control the stage of the microscope, we used the XYZ-stage of a computerized numerical control (CNC) router. Using open-source software GRBL for Arduino(R), we could easily control the stage by the stepping motor at a 1.0 μm resolution. We also developed the autofocus function in this system. Finally, we could obtain images of the cells at many different conditions for at least 48 h with good focusing. Conclusion: The hand-made multipoint time-laps microscope with open-source software GRBL is a low-cost and good enough precision for cell migration and proliferation study.

time-laps microscope

stepping motor

motorized stage