One problem commonly associated to microscopes is the shallow depth of field (DOF). The larger the magnification, the smaller the DOF. This problem is emphasized in portable and hand-held devices where the distance from microscope optics to the imaged object is difficult to keep constant due to shaking of awkward positioning of the device. In KeepLoop this problem is solved by fixing the distance between optics and object with the mechanical design of the device. The KeepLoop module can simply be placed on top of the imaged surface and the lens is always at the right focus distance. This makes the device very easy to use and reliable, while still keeping it light weight and portable.
A standard mobile phone or laptop fixed focus camera is designed to image distant objects. The purpose of KeepLoop device is to transform the standard camera objective into an extreme close-range lens. The design of the KeepLoop optics conforms to the common camera lens types and it also has a fixed focus distance. If the mobile phone used with the module has an autofocus (AF) camera, this functionality can be used with KeepLoop in order to extend the DOF. The AF systems moves the camera lens up and down in front of the camera sensor, but as this movement is confined to the built-in camera module, it doesn’t interfere with the microscope optics. So overall, the KeepLoop device is insensitive to the type of camera module and it can be used with both fixed focus and autofocus cameras.