Cargando…
Low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers
Spectrophotometry is a fundamental technique in many areas of science, with many applications and uses. The cost of spectrophotometers has acted as a barrier on the teaching and use of the technique. Here, we provide open-source plans to a 3D-printed cuvette holder with an interchangeable narrow–spe...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2019
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6590830/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31188818 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000321 |
_version_ | 1783429636564189184 |
---|---|
author | Pereira, Vasco Ribeiro Hosker, Bill Stephen |
author_facet | Pereira, Vasco Ribeiro Hosker, Bill Stephen |
author_sort | Pereira, Vasco Ribeiro |
collection | PubMed |
description | Spectrophotometry is a fundamental technique in many areas of science, with many applications and uses. The cost of spectrophotometers has acted as a barrier on the teaching and use of the technique. Here, we provide open-source plans to a 3D-printed cuvette holder with an interchangeable narrow–spectral bandwidth light-emitting diode (LED) block that can be used in conjunction with a smartphone’s ambient light sensor (ALS) to perform spectrophotometry. A Lego version with an interchangeable LED block is also presented. Results from the smartphone spectrophotometer in comparison with commercially available spectrophotometers demonstrated functionality, and the model may have many applications, especially in indirect spectrophotometry, such as in the protein assay shown here. The plans for the 3D-printed model are freely available on GitHub, as are editable files to allow customisation by users. We would encourage users to share adaptations with the scientific community. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6590830 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-65908302019-07-05 Low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers Pereira, Vasco Ribeiro Hosker, Bill Stephen PLoS Biol Community Page Spectrophotometry is a fundamental technique in many areas of science, with many applications and uses. The cost of spectrophotometers has acted as a barrier on the teaching and use of the technique. Here, we provide open-source plans to a 3D-printed cuvette holder with an interchangeable narrow–spectral bandwidth light-emitting diode (LED) block that can be used in conjunction with a smartphone’s ambient light sensor (ALS) to perform spectrophotometry. A Lego version with an interchangeable LED block is also presented. Results from the smartphone spectrophotometer in comparison with commercially available spectrophotometers demonstrated functionality, and the model may have many applications, especially in indirect spectrophotometry, such as in the protein assay shown here. The plans for the 3D-printed model are freely available on GitHub, as are editable files to allow customisation by users. We would encourage users to share adaptations with the scientific community. Public Library of Science 2019-06-12 /pmc/articles/PMC6590830/ /pubmed/31188818 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000321 Text en © 2019 Pereira, Hosker http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Community Page Pereira, Vasco Ribeiro Hosker, Bill Stephen Low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers |
title | Low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers |
title_full | Low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers |
title_fullStr | Low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers |
title_full_unstemmed | Low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers |
title_short | Low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers |
title_sort | low-cost (<€5), open-source, potential alternative to commercial spectrophotometers |
topic | Community Page |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6590830/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31188818 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000321 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT pereiravascoribeiro lowcost5opensourcepotentialalternativetocommercialspectrophotometers AT hoskerbillstephen lowcost5opensourcepotentialalternativetocommercialspectrophotometers |