Trials of Cell Phone Microscope to Begin in Africa

A functioning prototype of a cell phone microscope has been developed.

The telemedicine microscope captures an image with a lensless system. This means that the microscope can be miniaturized (it weighs approximately 43 g) to the point where it fits on most cell phones, while remaining inexpensive enough for widespread use in developing countries, costing only about US$10 each.

Images are captured through a process called diffraction, or shadow-based, imaging. An ordinary light-emitting diode (LED) from the top illuminates the sample, and the detector array already installed in cell phone cameras captures the image, recording the patterns created by the shadows resulting from the LED light scattering off the cells in the sample. Because cells are semi-transparent, enough information is obtained from this type of imaging to detect subcellular elements, and to produce holographic images. By using an inexpensive LED light instead of the laser as typically required for holographic imaging, the size and cost are further reduced.

The cell phone microscope is easy to use and versatile. Samples (blood smears or saliva) are loaded into single-use chips that easily slide into the side of the microscope. Because the microscope uses the entire detector array to capture an image and has a relatively large aperture, it has a wide imaging field-of-view. Samples do not need to be precisely aligned for images to be captured, and the chance of debris clogging the light source is lessened.

"Cell phones present a tremendous opportunity in Global healthcare," remarked Aydogan Ozcan, assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science (Los Angeles, CA, USA) and investigator at UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute, "We can leverage the fact that 80 % of the world's population lives in areas covered by cell phone networks to bridge the gaps left by a lack of health care infrastructure in developing countries."

The lensless imaging platform behind the cell phone microscope will be tested in real world trials. It received awards from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Geographic, and the [U.S.] National Science Foundation (NSF).

The cover article of the July 2010 edition of the journal Lab on a Chip features the latest creation by the Prof. Ozcan's group.