title: Rapid, simple and inexpensive production of custom 3D printed equipment for large-volume fluorescence microscopy.
abstract: The cost of 3D printing has reduced dramatically over the last few years and is now within reach of many scientific laboratories. This work presents an example of how 3D printing can be applied to the development of custom laboratory equipment that is specifically adapted for use with the novel brain tissue clearing technique, CLARITY. A simple, freely available online software tool was used, along with consumer-grade equipment, to produce a brain slicing chamber and a combined antibody staining and imaging chamber. Using standard 3D printers we were able to produce research-grade parts in an iterative manner at a fraction of the cost of commercial equipment. 3D printing provides a reproducible, flexible, simple and cost-effective method for researchers to produce the equipment needed to quickly adopt new methods.
authors: MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, UK; Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Science, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK. Electronic address: adam.tyson@kcl.ac.uk.
authors: Adam L
authors: AL
authors: Tyson
authors: Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry, UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, London WC1N 1AX, UK. Electronic address: s.hilton@ucl.ac.uk.
authors: Stephen T
authors: ST
authors: Hilton
authors: MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, UK. Electronic address: laura.andreae@kcl.ac.uk.
authors: Laura C
authors: LC
authors: Andreae
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation*; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012984:Software
keywords: 3D printing; Additive manufacturing; CLARITY; Optical clearing