Albeanu, Dinu F.Soucy, EdwardSato, Tomokazu F.Meister, MarkusMurthy, Venkatesh2008-12-012008Albeanu, Dinu F., Edward Soucy, Tomokazu F. Sato, Markus Meister, Venkatesh N. Murthy. 2008. LED arrays as cost effective and efficient light sources for widefield microscopy. PLoS ONE 3(5).1932-6203http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:2350197New developments in fluorophores as well as in detection methods have fueled the rapid growth of optical imaging in the life sciences. Commercial widefield microscopes generally use arc lamps, excitation/emission filters and shutters for fluorescence imaging. These components can be expensive, difficult to maintain and preclude stable illumination. Here, we describe methods to construct inexpensive and easy-to-use light sources for optical microscopy using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). We also provide examples of its applicability to biological fluorescence imaging.en-USJournal Article10.1371/journal.pone.0002146