openScopesConnect Africa (OSCA): overcoming foundational barriers to imaging uptake with mobile microscopes and remote training capabilities.

Complex barriers to imaging uptake face researchers across resource constrained regions, especially in Africa, including sparce local access to imaging technology, and poor suitability of common commercial microscopes for many local experimental needs.

Microscope access and training programs aim to boost capacity, but impact will remain constrained without a means to implement pilot imaging trials in local settings – an essential platform for testing ideas and planning larger projects.

To address this, we will develop the “openScope Traveller,” a mobile brightfield and widefield fluorescence microscope, based on the modular openFrame platform.

This “microscope-in-a- suitcase” will cater to the needs of researchers in under-resourced settings, with custom accessories developed for various applications, and integrated videoconferencing for remote support and training.

The foundation phase will focus on iterative prototyping in Cape Town, with extensive users’ design input and testing in labs across South Africa.

In the scale up phase, staged deployment of additional systems across five African countries will enable further refinement through real-world usage.

The openScope Traveller will empower a wide range of users to engage with bioimaging, develop pilot assays to explore local research questions, and generate data to support future applications to access programs, research grants, and other opportunities.