Mobile microscope will help battle diseases

The CellScope Loa device was developed by a research team led by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, US.

This use of UC Berkeley’s CellScope technology could help revive efforts to eradicate diseases in Africa by providing critical information to health providers.

“We previously showed that mobile phones can be used for microscopy, but this is the first device that combines the imaging technology with hardware and software automation to create a complete diagnostic solution,” associate chair and professor of bioengineering Daniel Fletcher said in a statement.

“The video CellScope provides accurate, fast results that enable health workers to make potentially life-saving treatment decisions in the field.”

The engineers teamed up with Dr Thomas Nutman from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and collaborators from Cameroon and France, to develop the device. They conducted a pilot study in Cameroon, which has been battling the filarial, or parasitic worm, diseases onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis.