Medicos hack iPhone into lab 'scope

Take an iPhone, a cheap camera lens, double-sided tape and lab slides and what do you get? In Tanzania, a device that helps diagnose intestinal worms. While it may sound trivial, the medicos say that there are infections in around two billion people worldwide, mostly children, and they can cause malnutrition. It's easy to …

[Knoydart]

So that is the iPooed device done (yes there is a spade for your outdoors types already called that). I guess next on the block is the ipeed or even iwizz device for UTIs etc

[M Gale]

Done this before

Using various lenses out of eyepieces, old microscopes and the likes. Some of them are useless for attaching to the phone. Others give an awesome macro ability, very comparable to a low-magnification microscope.

You'll never see your fingernails in the same way again. Ew.

[Mayday]

Good on them

Nice to see improvisation leading to the ability to help so many people in the face of adversity. I'm sure this is not the only thing they, and others like them in other locations, are trying to improve people's lives around the world.

[myob]

If you already have a microscope...

If you have an optical microscope, you can actually get quite good images by holding a cell phone camera up to the eyepiece - a few mm of shuggling about - look for a bright flash to show you are in the focus of the microscope lens, then slowly move it towards and away to optimise illumination of the camera sensor.

At least, it works for my kit. YMMV.

[John Smith 19]

"If you have an optical microscope, "

That's the problem.

They don't.

At all.

[turnip handler]

Am I missing something?

When saying that poverty is an issue in not having the best equipment it seems a little strange to then develop a tool for the most expensive phone available...

[Robert Forsyth]

Re: Am I missing something?

Although world-wide, the iPhone is second place in market share, I think they are quite popular in the USA.

Rather annoyingly, friends call both Nexus 7 and 10 an iPad (and complain at the high cost of getting an iPad for their daughter), so iPad is now becoming the generic term for an iPad like device.

[JDX]

Re: Am I missing something?

Well the doctors aren't necessarily the ones in poverty.

[James 51]

What would the results be like if you used a cheap camera or something like the nokia 808 or the 920?

[VaalDonkie]

Exactly the same. But remember that Apple is God and Micro$oft(note the evil dollar sign) is the Devil. Only Apple cares for poor black children.

[JDX]

Pretty cool

I'm surprised I have never seen official microscope add-ons for iPhones, etc. Do they exist... if not would be better than most of the other accessories out there. Get kids into science etc.

[reno79]

Close up pics of poo now appearing on an Instragram feed near you!

[Nosher]

iTedious

Sigh. Whilst this is an excellent idea, what has that fact it was an iPhone got to do with anything? Nothing. If anything, it might put other people off trying this out as they can't afford the Apple premium.