A basic college research class assignment has resulted in an invention that could change the face of medical treatments in the developing world. Student researchers studying at the University of California in Berkeley worked with their professor to design and develop a microscope add-on to cell phones that is powerful enough to take detailed images and analyze them to help diagnose serious diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria.
The CellScope is called a "fluorescence microscope," and it can identify specific markers of disease. The device consists of conventional microscope optics combined with equipment that makes it function in the same way that a fluorescence microscope works. Fluorescence is created when a certain color is used to illuminate specific molecules, after which they "shine" for a while in a different color. There are fluorescent "tagging" molecules that can be specifically designed to attach themselves to bacteria, such as the bacteria that doctors use to identify tuberculosis (TB), and then the CellScope can detect the light those molecules emit.
Traditional fluorescence microscopes are bulky and expensive, and are usually found only in research labs and hospitals. According to David Breslauer, a researcher at UCLA Berkeley and the lead author of the study, many people have tried to design portable fluorescent microscopes. But his team’s innovation is that they have integrated the microscope with a cell phone, which is extremely portable already, rather than making a standalone portable microscope. CellScope can also be used as a traditional microscope.
Designers used a standard Nokia handset with a 3.2 megapixel camera, and then designed a snap-on addition that holds the microscope optics. The snap-on addition also includes a holder for glass slides to contain blood samples. The light source used by the CellScope comes from inexpensive commercial light-emitting diodes, rather than the high power gas-filled lamps that are used in the bulky laboratory fluorescent microscopes. Cheap optical filters are used to isolate the light that comes from the fluorescent tagging molecules.
The team that developed the CellScope was able to identify the TB bacteria in a sample, because the resolution of the CellScope is approximately one millionth of a meter. When filters were removed, the CellScope could be used as a standard microscope, to identify malaria parasites as well as the misshapen cells found in sickle cell anemia. Researchers are in the process of developing other tagging molecules to aid in the diagnosis of other diseases.
Breslauer says that the CellScope is more than just a camera or a microscope, because including the functionality of a mobile phone allows the user access to the computing features of the phone as well as the mobile communications ability. The inherent powers can be used to run image analysis software, which may be added easily in the form of a small phone application.
The mobile aspect of the CellScope is what makes it particularly appealing to researchers for use "in the field," particularly in developing countries. In many rural areas that are hundreds of miles from hospitals or power sources, the mobile infrastructure is still well-established. If medical personnel had access to a portable battery-operated system they could use to take images, analyze them, and send them for in-depth diagnosis, then the possibilities are endless for portable clinics offering healthcare anywhere in the world. A doctor can see samples in real time, without having to be in the same room with the patient.
The development team is in the process of making a more robust version of the CellScope, which will be used in field testing and future clinical trials. What began as a class assignment is on the verge of bringing the benefits of modern medical microscopy to developing countries.
The CellScope is called a "fluorescence microscope," and it can identify specific markers of disease. The device consists of conventional microscope optics combined with equipment that makes it function in the same way that a fluorescence microscope works. Fluorescence is created when a certain color is used to illuminate specific molecules, after which they "shine" for a while in a different color. There are fluorescent "tagging" molecules that can be specifically designed to attach themselves to bacteria, such as the bacteria that doctors use to identify tuberculosis (TB), and then the CellScope can detect the light those molecules emit.
Traditional fluorescence microscopes are bulky and expensive, and are usually found only in research labs and hospitals. According to David Breslauer, a researcher at UCLA Berkeley and the lead author of the study, many people have tried to design portable fluorescent microscopes. But his team’s innovation is that they have integrated the microscope with a cell phone, which is extremely portable already, rather than making a standalone portable microscope. CellScope can also be used as a traditional microscope.
Designers used a standard Nokia handset with a 3.2 megapixel camera, and then designed a snap-on addition that holds the microscope optics. The snap-on addition also includes a holder for glass slides to contain blood samples. The light source used by the CellScope comes from inexpensive commercial light-emitting diodes, rather than the high power gas-filled lamps that are used in the bulky laboratory fluorescent microscopes. Cheap optical filters are used to isolate the light that comes from the fluorescent tagging molecules.
The team that developed the CellScope was able to identify the TB bacteria in a sample, because the resolution of the CellScope is approximately one millionth of a meter. When filters were removed, the CellScope could be used as a standard microscope, to identify malaria parasites as well as the misshapen cells found in sickle cell anemia. Researchers are in the process of developing other tagging molecules to aid in the diagnosis of other diseases.
Breslauer says that the CellScope is more than just a camera or a microscope, because including the functionality of a mobile phone allows the user access to the computing features of the phone as well as the mobile communications ability. The inherent powers can be used to run image analysis software, which may be added easily in the form of a small phone application.
The mobile aspect of the CellScope is what makes it particularly appealing to researchers for use "in the field," particularly in developing countries. In many rural areas that are hundreds of miles from hospitals or power sources, the mobile infrastructure is still well-established. If medical personnel had access to a portable battery-operated system they could use to take images, analyze them, and send them for in-depth diagnosis, then the possibilities are endless for portable clinics offering healthcare anywhere in the world. A doctor can see samples in real time, without having to be in the same room with the patient.
The development team is in the process of making a more robust version of the CellScope, which will be used in field testing and future clinical trials. What began as a class assignment is on the verge of bringing the benefits of modern medical microscopy to developing countries.
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