Dr. Aydogan Ozcan at UCLA has created a disease-detecting cell phone by hacking a Sony Ericsson w810i camera phone. Using a filtered light source, the hacked cell phone captures images of cells that are then analyzed on a desktop computer.
According to Wired, Ozcan’s technology allows the hacked cell phone to detect specific diseases like malaria or count CD4+T cells to monitor an HIV patient’s health.
Currently, Ozcan’s software for analyzing the images must be run on a desktop computer, but his plans include loading the software into a hand-held device that could provide both imaging and analysis on the spot. This could not only improve turn-around time for diagnosis at the doctor’s office, but could revolutionize diagnostic medicine in third-world countries where labs are as scarce as the money to equip them.
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