Fall 2019 (Volume 29, Number 3)

Rheumatology Art:
Foldscope Images

By Raman Joshi, MD, FRCPC

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All these unique images were taken using a Foldscope, a paper origami microscope, attached to an iPhone SE.

An image of avian-sourced hyaluronic acid. A drop of the hyaluronic acid which was left over after injection was dried on a glass slide and viewed with a foldscope.

An image of etanercept, which had expired. A drop of fluid was dried on a glass slide.

Triamcinolone hexacetonide under polarized light.

This image is of dried synovial fluid from a patient with acute inflammatory arthritis. The image was taken using the iPhone and crossed polarizing plates to reveal the long, thin, negatively birefringent crystals which were also seen by standard compensated polarizing microscopy and are consistent with uric acid crystals.