Researchers develop mobile phone microscopy tool
6 Dec 2013
Researchers from Finland and Sweden have stripped down a mobile phone camera and turned it into a mini microscope for use as a low-cost diagnostics tool.
The researchers, from the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland and the University of Helsinki and Karolinska Institutet, have been able to show that imaging devices modified to inexpensive mini-microscopes can be used in the fight against tropical infectious diseases.
The mobile phone-based method the researchers developed could be used for high-resolution imaging and image transfer over data networks to solve diagnostic problems.
“The stage is set for alternatives to conventional microscopy in endemic areas
Dr Johan Lundin
The team led by Dr Johan Lundin and Dr. Ewert Linder modified inexpensive imaging devices, such as a webcam selling for ten euros and a mobile phone camera, into mini-microscopes.
According to the researchers, a test sample was placed directly onto the exposed surface of the image sensor chip after removal of the optics.
The resolution of such mini-microscopes was dependent on the pixel size of the sensor, but sufficient for identification of several pathogenic parasites.
In their study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the researchers were able to use the mini-microscopes to yield images of parasitic worm eggs present in urine and stools of infected individuals.
“With the proliferation of mobile phones, data transfer networks and digital microscopy applications - the stage is set for alternatives to conventional microscopy in endemic areas,” Lundin said.
