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YOU CAN BUILD THE MICROSCOPE THAT FILMS AN EMBRYO GROWING FOR DAYS

This microscope lights only a single plane of your sample, so you can film a living embryo for days without bleaching or cooking it.

by OpenSPIM project

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

ScienceOpen-hardware

Built with3D printing

difficulty
●●●●○
time
several weekends
license
CC BY-SA (wiki documentation and designs)
repo
repo DOCUMENTATION ONLINE; GITHUB SOFTWARE REPOS INACTIVE SINCE 20160 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

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COMPAREE VERDICT

OpenSPIM is a platform for building a selective plane illumination microscope, the technique that lets you image living specimens over hours or days without photodamage. It is aimed at scientists who have never built an optical system, and the documentation genuinely walks you through it. The parts list is complete, the CAD is provided, and the whole rig is small enough to fit in a suitcase. That said, this is still a precision optical instrument. You will spend time aligning optics, troubleshooting fluorescence bleed, and learning Micro-Manager if you have not used it before. The most likely thing to go wrong is buying a laser or objective that does not match your sample, because the guide gives you options but cannot tell you which fluorophore you need. If you have access to a workshop and a reason to image live samples in 3D, this is the accessible version of a technique that used to require a custom-built facility. If you do not already know why you need a light-sheet microscope, start with the scientific literature first.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —Step-by-step assembly instructions and full parts list are published on the wiki.
  • —CAD files (STL, STEP, PDF drawings) are provided for all custom parts; they are meant to be machined (aluminium heatsink, metal holders, milled acrylic chamber), and 3D-printed versions need careful tolerance checks.
  • —Control software uses open-source Micro-Manager and Fiji, both separate projects.
  • —Documentation is CC BY-SA: commercial use is allowed with attribution, and adapted documentation must stay under the same licence.
  • —Documentation lives on the openspim.org wiki; software (the Micro-Manager acquisition plugin and Fiji processing tools) is in the github.com/openspim organisation.
  • —This is a precision optical build: parts must be aligned to sub-millimetre tolerances.

Parts to buy

10 items

From our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.

  • Laser moduleFind
  • Two Olympus water-dipping objectives with tube lensFind
  • SCMOS cameraFind
  • Picard 4-axis motorised sample stageFind
  • Metric optical breadboard and railsFind
  • Kinematic mirror mountsFind
  • LensesFind
  • Cylindrical lensFind
  • SlitFind
  • Emission filtersFind

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Can I build this?

PrintLittle to print: the custom stilts, holders, heatsink and sample chamber come as CAD and drawings and are recommended to be machined (metal and milled acrylic); if you 3D print any, double-check tolerances.
BuyLaser module, two Olympus water-dipping objectives (10x/0.3 and 20x/0.5) with tube lens, sCMOS camera, Picard 4-axis motorised sample stage, metric optical breadboard and rails, kinematic mirror mounts, lenses, cylindrical lens, slit, emission filters — full parts table on the wiki
ToolsOptical breadboard or tabletop, tools for mounting optics, access to alignment equipment, PC running Micro-Manager
SkillsComfortable with optical alignment, reading scientific protocols, and debugging imaging software — aimed at researchers, not first-time builders
TimeSeveral weekends for assembly and alignment, then iterative tuning for your specific sample and fluorophore
CostBand three — the parts table puts the laser at about 7,000 euros, the 4-axis motor stage at about 4,260 dollars and the two objectives at about 2,550 euros; with the sCMOS camera (quote only) a full build runs to many thousands of euros.
SafetyClass 3B or 4 laser depending on your choice of module — eye protection required during alignment, separate laser safety protocols if operating in a shared lab space. No other unusual hazards beyond standard optical bench work.

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

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Gallery

openspim.org
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Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Read the introduction and scientific background (Understand what selective plane illumination is and whether it suits your imaging problem)
  2. 2.Review the full bill of materials (Check which laser wavelength and objectives match your fluorophores before ordering anything)
  3. 3.Download the CAD files for the custom parts (The wiki recommends buying all purchased parts first, then having the custom parts machined to fit; a vendor that has made parts for several OpenSPIMs is linked in the parts table)
  4. 4.Follow the step-by-step assembly guide (Work through optical alignment carefully — this is where most first-time builders spend their time)

Resources

Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.

KNOWN ISSUES

  • The BOM gives you options for lasers and objectives, but choosing the wrong wavelength or numerical aperture for your sample means reordering expensive parts.
  • Optical alignment is iterative and requires patience — expect to spend several sessions getting the light sheet thin and properly positioned.
  • Micro-Manager and Fiji are powerful but have a learning curve if you have not used them before, and troubleshooting acquisition scripts is part of the process.
  • The documentation assumes you understand fluorescence microscopy terminology — if you do not know what a dichroic mirror or an emission filter does, you will need to learn that separately.
  • Sample preparation is covered for the classic case (embedding in low-melting agarose in a glass capillary, demonstrated on Drosophila embryos) — for other organisms you will still need to adapt protocols from the literature.
  • If you are building this outside a research lab, you will also need to source or build your own laser safety enclosure and follow local safety regulations.

Can I use this for fixed samples, or is it only for live imaging?

You can use it for fixed samples, but the main advantage of light-sheet microscopy is reduced photodamage during long time-lapse acquisitions of living specimens. For a single snapshot of a fixed sample, a standard confocal or widefield microscope is often simpler.

What is the actual resolution I can expect?

Lateral resolution is set by the detection objective — the standard build uses a 20x/0.5 water-dipping lens — and axial resolution by how thin you can make the light sheet. Expect widefield-class lateral resolution with much better optical sectioning.

Do I need a dedicated dark room or optical table?

No full optical table — everything sits on a 300 × 450 mm Thorlabs breadboard small enough to fit in a suitcase — but you do need a stable surface and a dark enclosure to block ambient light during acquisition. A blacked-out box around the setup is common.

Can I use a different camera or laser than the ones in the BOM?

Yes, the design is modular, but you will need to verify that your chosen components have compatible mounting threads and optical specifications. The wiki explains what matters for each part.

How do I know if my sample is suitable for light-sheet imaging?

Your sample needs to be transparent or cleared enough for light to pass through it, and small enough to fit in the chamber (typically up to a few millimetres). The technique works well for embryos, organoids, and cleared tissue, less well for thick opaque samples.

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Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

The BOM lists multiple laser and objective options, but choosing the right combination for your fluorophore is the decision that makes or breaks the build. What would you be imaging, and which wavelength would you start with?

CompareeTEAM1mo agoedited

Practical notes from our verification: the project lives mainly on the openspim.org wiki, with a table of parts, step-by-step assembly and downloads, and its software sits in the github.com/openspim organisation, including the Micro-Manager plugin used to acquire images. The documentation walks through alignment step by step and also covers sample preparation, but you still need to be comfortable reading scientific protocols and troubleshooting imaging software. The build is mounted on a metric optical breadboard listed in the parts table. The single biggest decision is not the printed parts; it is choosing the laser wavelength and detection objective that match your sample before you order the expensive optics. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.

OpenSPIM project

OpenSPIM was developed as an open-access initiative to make selective plane illumination microscopy accessible to labs that could not afford commercial light-sheet systems. The project is a collaboration across multiple research groups and is maintained as a community resource.

Web

Star the project on GitHub

DISCLAIMER

  • Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
  • Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
  • Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
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