TEDGlobal 2012
Manu Prakash: A 50-cent microscope that folds like origami
马努•普拉卡什: 价值50美分的折纸显微镜
Filmed:
Readability: 4.1
2,182,867 views
也许你玩过纸卡娃娃，或者折过纸天鹅? TED 伙伴马努•普拉卡什和他的团队发明了一种用纸做的显微镜，易折易用。他精彩的演说展示了，这项发明能如何为发展中国家的医疗状况带来革命性的改变，以及将几乎任何事情变成有趣并且可动手实践的科学实验。
Manu Prakash - Physicist, inventor
TED Fellow Manu Prakash is on a mission to bring radical new technology to global health. Full bio
TED Fellow Manu Prakash is on a mission to bring radical new technology to global health. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
The year is 1800.
0
747
2323
1800年
00:15
A curious little invention is being talked about.
1
3070
3056
人们都在谈论一个奇特的小发明，
00:18
It's called a microscope.
2
6126
3081
叫作显微镜。
00:21
What it allows you to do
3
9207
1779
它能让你
00:22
is see tiny little lifeforms
4
10986
2642
看到微小的生命形式，
00:25
that are invisible to the naked eye.
5
13628
2487
就是平常肉眼看不见的那种。
00:28
Soon comes the medical discovery
6
16115
2028
很快医学界就发现，
00:30
that many of these lifeforms are actually causes
7
18143
3085
许多这些生命形式
实际上正是造成
实际上正是造成
00:33
of terrible human diseases.
8
21228
2191
可怕的人类疾病的原因。
00:35
Imagine what happened to the society
9
23419
2785
想象一下社会大众
会有什么反应，
会有什么反应，
00:38
when they realized
10
26204
1988
当他们意识到，
00:40
that an English mom in her teacup
11
28192
2816
一个英国母亲从她的茶杯里
00:43
actually was drinking a monster soup,
12
31008
3136
喝到的实际上是一杯怪物汤。
00:46
not very far from here. This is from London.
13
34144
3149
离这儿就不远，
这张照片来自伦敦。
这张照片来自伦敦。
00:49
Fast forward 200 years.
14
37293
2842
让我们快进200年，
00:52
We still have this monster soup around,
15
40135
2132
这种怪物汤还存在着，
00:54
and it's taken hold in the developing countries
16
42267
2855
并且还在赤道带附近的
00:57
around the tropical belt.
17
45122
2416
发展中国家中肆虐。
00:59
Just for malaria itself,
18
47538
2563
仅就疟疾而言，
01:02
there are a million deaths a year,
19
50101
2445
每年就会造成一百万人死亡，
01:04
and more than a billion people
20
52546
1746
而且有十亿多的人需要接受检查，
01:06
that need to be tested because they are at risk
21
54292
2648
因为他们有可能
01:08
for different species of malarial infections.
22
56940
3235
被各种类型的疟疾感染。
01:12
Now it's actually very simple to put a face
23
60175
2811
其实很容易就能看到
01:14
to many of these monsters.
24
62986
1795
这些怪物长什么样。
01:16
You take a stain, like acridine orange
25
64781
2627
你拿个染料，比如吖啶橙
01:19
or a fluorescent stain or Giemsa,
26
67408
2117
或者一种荧光染料，又或者是吉姆萨染液，
01:21
and a microscope, and you look at them.
27
69525
3113
再拿个显微镜，就可以看了。
01:24
They all have faces.
28
72638
2380
它们都展现出面部特征。
01:27
Why is that so, that Alex in Kenya,
29
75018
2638
那为什么，肯尼亚的艾利克斯，
01:29
Fatima in Bangladesh, Navjoot in Mumbai,
30
77656
3228
孟加拉的法缇玛，孟买的纳菊特，
01:32
and Julie and Mary in Uganda still wait months
31
80884
3421
还有乌干达的茱莉和玛丽，还要等上好几个月
01:36
to be able to diagnose why they are sick?
32
84305
3579
才能得知他们的病因呢？
01:39
And that's primarily because scalability
33
87884
3026
首要原因是无法扩大
01:42
of the diagnostics is completely out of reach.
34
90910
3032
诊断范围。
01:45
And remember that number: one billion.
35
93942
3916
记得我刚才说的那个数字:十亿。
01:49
The problem lies with the microscope itself.
36
97858
3901
问题在于显微镜本身。
01:53
Even though the pinnacle of modern science,
37
101759
2376
尽管它们是现代科学的顶尖产物，
01:56
research microscopes are
not designed for field testing.
not designed for field testing.
38
104135
3135
实验显微镜却不是
为临床试验而设计的。
为临床试验而设计的。
01:59
Neither were they first designed
39
107270
1680
它们最初根本也就不是
02:00
for diagnostics at all.
40
108950
2151
为了诊断疾病而设计的。
02:03
They are heavy, bulky, really hard to maintain,
41
111101
3388
它们一般又重又大，很难维护，
02:06
and cost a lot of money.
42
114489
2301
还非常贵。
02:08
This picture is Mahatma Gandhi in the '40s
43
116790
3405
这张照片里是四十年代时圣雄甘地
02:12
using the exact same setup
that we actually use today
that we actually use today
44
120195
3294
用着和我们现在用的一模一样的设备，
02:15
for diagnosing T.B. in his ashram
45
123489
2684
在他的修行处诊断肺结核，
02:18
in Sevagram in India.
46
126173
2445
那是在印度的色瓦格拉姆。
02:20
Two of my students, Jim and James,
47
128618
3327
我的两个学生，
吉姆和詹姆斯，
吉姆和詹姆斯，
02:23
traveled around India and Thailand,
48
131945
2320
走遍了印度和泰国，
02:26
starting to think about this problem a lot.
49
134265
2252
他们开始不断思考这个问题。
02:28
We saw all kinds of donated equipment.
50
136517
2475
我们看到各种各样捐助得来的仪器，
02:30
We saw fungus growing on microscope lenses.
51
138992
2912
有些显微镜的镜头上都长了霉。
02:33
And we saw people who had a functional microscope
52
141904
2195
我们还看到有的人
拿着运转正常的显微镜，
拿着运转正常的显微镜，
02:36
but just didn't know how to even turn it on.
53
144099
2951
却不知道怎么把它打开。
02:39
What grew out of that work and that trip
54
147050
2640
我们从那时的工作和那段旅程中，
02:41
was actually the idea of what we call Foldscopes.
55
149690
3751
产生了我们现在称作
纸折显微镜的想法。
纸折显微镜的想法。
02:45
So what is a Foldscope?
56
153441
1823
那什么是纸折显微镜呢？
02:47
A Foldscope is a completely functional microscope,
57
155264
3549
这是一种功能完备的显微镜，
02:50
a platform for fluorescence, bright-field,
58
158813
3130
可以看荧光，亮视野，
02:53
polarization, projection,
59
161943
1575
还可以偏振化，投影。
02:55
all kinds of advanced microscopy
60
163518
2568
各种各样先进的显微镜技术，
02:58
built purely by folding paper.
61
166086
3215
都纯粹用可折叠的纸制造出来。
03:01
So, now you think, how is that possible?
62
169301
2861
那你现在会想，这怎么可能呢？
03:04
I'm going to show you some examples here,
63
172162
1963
我会给你们看几个例子，
03:06
and we will run through some of them.
64
174125
1801
而且我们还会试用一下其中几个。
03:07
It starts with a single sheet of paper.
65
175926
3784
先开始就是一张纸，
03:11
What you see here is all the possible components
66
179710
3371
这上面有用来组装
一个显微镜的全套部件，
一个显微镜的全套部件，
03:15
to build a functional bright-field
and fluorescence microscope.
and fluorescence microscope.
67
183081
4425
可以成功组装一个
具有亮视野功能的荧光显微镜。
具有亮视野功能的荧光显微镜。
03:19
So, there are three stages:
68
187506
1809
这上面有三个部分，
03:21
There is the optical stage, the illumination stage
69
189315
2749
包括目镜部分，照明部分，
03:24
and the mask-holding stage.
70
192064
2468
还有样本存放部分。
03:26
And there are micro optics at the bottom
71
194532
1872
最下面是微型光学系统，
03:28
that's actually embedded in the paper itself.
72
196404
2874
实际上被嵌入在这张纸里面了。
03:31
What you do is, you take it on,
73
199278
2504
你要做的就是把它拿过来，
03:33
and just like you are playing like a toy,
74
201782
2776
然后就像玩个玩具一样，
03:36
which it is,
75
204558
3087
这也真的是个玩具，
03:40
I tab it off,
76
208584
3030
我把它撕下来，
03:47
and I break it off.
77
215039
2182
然后分开。
03:49
This paper has no instructions and no languages.
78
217221
2724
这张纸上没有什么任何说明，
也没有任何文字。
也没有任何文字。
03:51
There is a code, a color code embedded,
79
219945
2319
这儿有一个记号，
彩色的记号，
彩色的记号，
03:54
that tells you exactly how to
fold that specific microscope.
fold that specific microscope.
80
222264
4611
告诉你怎么折这一款的显微镜。
03:58
When it's done, it looks something like this,
81
226875
2649
折好之后，大概就像这样，
04:01
has all the functionalities of a standard microscope,
82
229524
2731
它具有标准显微镜的
所有功能，
所有功能，
04:04
just like an XY stage,
83
232255
1881
比如说一个纵横移动载物台，
04:06
a place where a sample slide could go,
84
234136
4421
是放样品载玻片的地方，
04:10
for example right here.
85
238557
2540
我这儿现在就有一个。
04:13
We didn't want to change this,
86
241097
1512
我们不想做出改动，
04:14
because this is the standard
87
242609
1372
因为它经过多年的优化，
04:15
that's been optimized for over the years,
88
243981
1853
现在已经标准化了，
04:17
and many health workers are actually used to this.
89
245834
2696
很多医务人员都很习惯使用它们。
04:20
So this is what changes,
90
248530
1461
不同的就是这个。
04:21
but the standard stains all remain the same
91
249991
2167
对于很多不同的疾病来说，
04:24
for many different diseases.
92
252158
1775
用于检测的标准染料也还和以前一样。
04:25
You pop this in.
93
253933
2932
把这个放进去，
04:28
There is an XY stage,
94
256865
3886
这有个纵横移动载物台，
04:32
and then there is a focusing stage,
95
260751
1973
还有个聚焦装置，
04:34
which is a flexure mechanism
96
262724
1866
这是一种具有伸缩性的装置，
04:36
that's built in paper itself that allows us to move
97
264590
2553
直接用纸制造，
这样我们就可以
这样我们就可以
04:39
and focus the lenses by micron steps.
98
267143
2981
通过微米级的移动来聚焦。
04:42
So what's really interesting about this object,
99
270124
2133
这个东西非常有意思的一点，
04:44
and my students hate when I do this,
100
272257
1883
尽管我的学生不喜欢我这么做，
04:46
but I'm going to do this anyway,
101
274140
1761
但我今天还是要做一下，
04:47
is these are rugged devices.
102
275901
1956
就是这些小仪器很坚固。
04:49
I can turn it on and throw it on the floor
103
277857
4577
我可以把它打开，
扔到地上，
扔到地上，
04:54
and really try to stomp on it.
104
282434
2952
再使劲儿跺上几脚，
04:57
And they last, even though they're designed
105
285386
2375
它们也不会坏，
虽然它们
虽然它们
04:59
from a very flexible material, like paper.
106
287761
3463
是用纸这种非常柔软的材料做的。
05:03
Another fun fact is, this is what we actually
107
291224
2852
另一个有趣的事实是，
05:06
send out there as a standard diagnostic tool,
108
294076
4055
这是我们实际发送出去的
所谓标准诊断工具，
所谓标准诊断工具，
05:10
but here in this envelope
109
298131
1769
但是这个信封里，
05:11
I have 30 different foldscopes
110
299900
2391
我装了30个不同构型的
纸折显微镜，
纸折显微镜，
05:14
of different configurations all in a single folder.
111
302291
5731
全都放进了一个文件夹里。
05:20
And I'm going to pick one randomly.
112
308022
1812
现在我要随便拿一个出来。
05:21
This one, it turns out, is actually designed
113
309834
2082
这个是专门用来
05:23
specifically for malaria,
114
311916
1563
检测疟疾的。
05:25
because it has the fluorescent filters built
115
313479
2311
这里面装着专门
05:27
specifically for diagnosing malaria.
116
315790
2097
用于诊断疟疾的荧光滤片。
05:29
So the idea of very specific diagnostic microscopes
117
317887
3928
制造专门用于针对某类疾病的
显微镜的想法
显微镜的想法
05:33
comes out of this.
118
321815
1766
就是从这产生的。
05:35
So up till now, you didn't actually see
119
323581
2939
到现在为止，你们实际上还没看到
05:38
what I would see from one of these setups.
120
326520
2957
我从这个装置里能看到什么。
05:41
So what I would like to do is,
121
329477
1681
所以现在我要做的就是，
05:43
if we could dim the lights, please,
122
331158
1626
请把灯关掉好吗，
05:44
it turns out foldscopes are
also projection microscopes.
also projection microscopes.
123
332784
3665
这些纸折显微镜
也都是投影显微镜，
也都是投影显微镜，
05:48
I have these two microscopes that I'm going to turn --
124
336449
2534
这两个显微镜我要把它们转向
05:50
go to the back of the wall --
125
338983
1753
后面这面墙，
05:52
and just project, and this way you will see
126
340736
1708
然后投影，这样你们就能看见
05:54
exactly what I would see.
127
342444
2120
我所看到的影像。
05:56
What you're looking at --
128
344564
1786
你们现在看见的，
05:58
(Applause) —
129
346350
2383
（掌声）
06:00
This is a cross-section of a compound eye,
130
348733
2636
这是一只复眼的横切片，
06:03
and when I'm going to zoom in closer, right there,
131
351369
2351
现在我要把它放大些，来看这里，
06:05
I am going through the z-axis.
132
353720
2244
现在我正在z轴方向移动，
06:07
You actually see how the lenses are cut together
133
355964
3024
你们可以看出来这些晶状体
06:10
in the cross-section pattern.
134
358988
1573
被切出这种在横切片里特有的形态。
06:12
Another example, one of my favorite insects,
135
360561
2556
另一个例子，
是我最喜欢的昆虫之一，
是我最喜欢的昆虫之一，
06:15
I love to hate this one,
136
363117
1977
我乐于去憎恨它，
06:17
is a mosquito,
137
365094
1781
就是蚊子。
06:18
and you're seeing the antenna of a culex pipiens.
138
366875
3762
你们现在看到的是
一只尖音库蚊的触角。
一只尖音库蚊的触角。
06:22
Right there.
139
370637
3363
就在那儿。
06:26
All from the simple setup that I actually described.
140
374000
4213
这些都是用我刚才说的
那种简单的装置看到的。
那种简单的装置看到的。
06:30
So my wife has been field testing
141
378213
1773
我妻子曾经实地考验过
06:31
some of our microscopes
142
379986
2000
我们的显微镜，
06:33
by washing my clothes whenever I forget them
143
381986
2481
她总是在我把衣物
落在烘干机里时
落在烘干机里时
06:36
in the dryer.
144
384467
2029
把它们洗了。
06:38
So it turns out they're waterproof, and --
145
386496
2800
这样看来，它们是防水的，
06:41
(Laughter) —
146
389296
1788
（笑声）
06:43
right here is just fluorescent water,
147
391084
2498
这里装的是带荧光素的水，
06:45
and I don't know if you can actually see this.
148
393582
1550
我不知道你们是否能看见，
06:47
This also shows you how
the projection scope works.
the projection scope works.
149
395132
2389
不过这里显示出来
投影是怎么形成的，
投影是怎么形成的，
06:49
You get to see the beam the
way it's projected and bent.
way it's projected and bent.
150
397521
3653
你可以看见光线
是如何被投射和弯曲的。
是如何被投射和弯曲的。
06:56
Can we get the lights back on again?
151
404199
2940
现在可以再把灯打开吗？
06:59
So I'm quickly going to show you,
152
407139
1787
现在我要快点给你们展示一下，
07:00
since I'm running out of time,
153
408926
2049
因为我快没时间了，
07:02
in terms of how much it costs for us to manufacture,
154
410975
2426
关于我们花多少成本来生产，
07:05
the biggest idea was roll-to-roll manufacturing,
155
413401
3080
最好的方式是卷式生产方式，
07:08
so we built this out of 50 cents of parts and costs.
156
416481
3122
我们每造一个只要花50美分。
07:11
(Applause)
157
419603
2859
（掌声）
07:14
And what this allows us to do
158
422462
2095
这让我们想出了
07:16
is to think about a new paradigm in microscopy,
159
424557
2336
使用显微镜的一个新模式，
07:18
which we call use-and-throw microscopy.
160
426893
2017
我们称之为一次性显微镜。
07:20
I'm going to give you a quick snapshot
161
428910
2089
我要给你们看一下
07:22
of some of the parts that go in.
162
430999
1763
这里面的某些部件。
07:24
Here is a sheet of paper.
163
432762
1459
这是一张纸，
07:26
This is when we were thinking about the idea.
164
434221
2089
这是我们当初开始这个设想的时候，
07:28
This is an A4 sheet of paper.
165
436310
1355
这是一张A4大小的纸，
07:29
These are the three stages that you actually see.
166
437665
1981
这是你们看到的那三个部分。
07:31
And the optical components, if you
look at the inset up on the right,
look at the inset up on the right,
167
439646
3430
光学部分，如果你看右边插图，
07:35
we had to figure out a way to manufacture lenses
168
443076
2427
我们必须得想一个办法
07:37
in paper itself at really high throughputs,
169
445503
2312
可以以纸本身为材料，
高效率地生产透镜。
高效率地生产透镜。
07:39
so it uses a process of self-assembly
170
447815
1859
通过自行组装
07:41
and surface tension
171
449674
1112
以及表面张力，
07:42
to build achromatic lenses in the paper itself.
172
450786
3536
就可以在纸里面造出消色差透镜了。
07:46
So that's where the lenses go.
173
454322
1445
透镜就放在这里。
07:47
There are some light sources.
174
455767
1612
还有光源部分。
07:49
And essentially, in the end,
175
457379
1385
最后，也是最根本的，
07:50
all the parts line up because of origami,
176
458764
3178
所有部件通过折纸的方法对齐，
07:53
because of the fact that origami allows us
177
461942
3271
因为折纸的方法使我们
07:57
micron-scale precision of optical alignment.
178
465213
2980
在将光学配件对齐时
达到小于微米级的精确度。
达到小于微米级的精确度。
08:00
So even though this looks like a simple toy,
179
468193
2629
所以尽管这看起来
就象个简简单单的玩具，
就象个简简单单的玩具，
08:02
the aspects of engineering that go in
180
470822
1914
为制作它所用到的工程学
08:04
something like this are fairly sophisticated.
181
472736
2686
还是相当复杂的。
08:07
So here is another obvious thing that we would do,
182
475422
3235
显然我们还将做的另一件事，
08:10
typically, if I was going to show
183
478657
1593
通常如果我想证实，
08:12
that these microscopes are robust,
184
480250
1505
这些显微镜有多结实，
08:13
is go to the third floor and
drop it from the floor itself.
drop it from the floor itself.
185
481755
3838
我就上到三楼，
然后把它扔下去，
然后把它扔下去，
08:17
There it is, and it survives.
186
485593
3323
掉在那儿了，
还好着呢。
还好着呢。
08:20
So for us, the next step actually
187
488916
2177
对我们来说，
下一步实际上
下一步实际上
08:23
is really finishing our field trials.
188
491093
1839
就是真正完成我们的现场试验。
08:24
We are starting at the end of the summer.
189
492932
2105
我们将在夏季快结束的时候开始试验。
08:27
We are at a stage where we'll be
making thousands of microscopes.
making thousands of microscopes.
190
495037
2927
现在我们正在制造
数以千计的显微镜，
数以千计的显微镜，
08:29
That would be the first time where we would be
191
497964
2144
这将是我们第一次，
08:32
doing field trials with the highest density
192
500108
2085
在进行实地检测时
08:34
of microscopes ever at a given place.
193
502193
2555
在一个地方投放的显微镜数量
达到最高的密度。
达到最高的密度。
08:36
We've started collecting data for malaria,
194
504748
2080
我们已经开始从病人身上收集
08:38
Chagas disease and giardia from patients themselves.
195
506828
3796
关于疟疾，查格斯氏病
和贾第鞭毛虫病的数据。
和贾第鞭毛虫病的数据。
08:42
And I want to leave you with this picture.
196
510624
2094
我想最后给你们看这张照片，
08:44
I had not anticipated this before,
197
512718
1925
我之前并没有预料到这一点，
08:46
but a really interesting link
198
514643
1687
不过在
08:48
between hands-on science education
199
516330
1895
动手型的科学教育
08:50
and global health.
200
518225
1258
和全球健康问题之间有一个有趣的联系。
08:51
What are the tools that we're actually providing
201
519483
2926
我们能提供什么样的工具，
08:54
the kids who are going to fight
202
522409
2180
给那些明天要和怪物汤
08:56
this monster soup for tomorrow?
203
524589
1918
斗争的孩子们呢？
08:58
I would love for them to be able to just print out
204
526507
2358
我非常希望他们可以打印出
09:00
a Foldscope and carry them around in their pockets.
205
528865
2129
一个纸折显微镜，
然后装在口袋里随身携带。
然后装在口袋里随身携带。
09:02
Thank you.
206
530994
2906
谢谢。
09:05
(Applause)
207
533900
4443
（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Manu Prakash - Physicist, inventorTED Fellow Manu Prakash is on a mission to bring radical new technology to global health.
Why you should listen
An assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, Manu Prakash is a physicist working at the molecular scale to try and understand no less than how the world really works. As he told BusinessWeek in 2010, he is humbled and inspired by nature’s own solutions to the world's biggest problems. "I build and design tools to uncover how and why biological systems so often outsmart us. I believe one day we will be able to understand the physical design principles of life on Earth, leading to a new way to look at the world we live in."
Born in Meerut, India, Prakash earned a BTech in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur before moving to the United States. He did his master’s and PhD in applied physics at MIT before founding the Prakash Lab at Stanford.
Prakash's ultra-low-cost, "print-and-fold" paper microscope won a $100,000 grant from the Gates Foundaton in 2012.
Manu Prakash | Speaker | TED.com