Startup Idea: Automated Microscope Image Analysis Software

Startup idea to develop a software that can be connected to any conventional optical microscope, which when given the magnification of the lens, can analyze the photo and provide all the major measurements. This tool could be a time-and-cost effective alternative to using a Scanning Electron Microscope for nanoscale and microscale research.

I work as a researched in Nano/Microfabrication in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

I often produce samples with features in the 500 nanometers to 50 micrometer range. Many times, the best way to properly measure the size and depth of my features is through the use of a Scanning Electron Microscope, or SEM.

Unfortunately, it is very time consuming to even get a simple measurement and the tool time costs over $150 per hour of usage.

We do have conventional microscopes, but the problem with these is that we have to manually select the magnification, and points to measure from-to.

It's very slow and somewhat antiquated way of doing things. It would be awesome is there was a piece of software that we could connect to any conventional optical microscope, select the magnification of the lens and have the software analyze the photo and return all of the major measurements.

This would save us a lot of time and money by bypassing the SEM step. We would certainly pay thousands of dollars for something like this because we already spend upwards of 10k per month on SEM time just taking measurements.