Momodou
Denmark
11635 Posts |
Posted - 14 Mar 2013 : 11:26:00
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Worms detected by converted iPhone microscope
BBC Online: Published on 13 March 2013
Scientists used an iPhone 4S to diagnose intestinal worm infections in schoolchildren in rural Tanzania.
They attached an $8 (£5) ball lens to the handset camera lens, and used a cheap torch and double-sided tape to create an improvised microscope.
Pictures were then taken of stool samples placed on lab slides, wrapped in cellophane and taped to the phone.
They were studied for the presence of eggs, the main sign of the presence of the parasites.
When the results were double-checked with a laboratory light microscope, the device had managed to pick up 70% of the samples with infections present - and 90% of the heavier infections.
The study has been published this week in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Researcher Dr Isaac Bogoch, who specialises in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Toronto General Hospital, told the BBC he had read about smartphone microscopes being trialled in a laboratory and decided to "recreate it in a real world setting".
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