Mobile Microscope
Scientists will turn mobile phones into fluorescent microscopes
Varvara Butkovskaya, MForum.ru , based on materials cellular-news.com
Scientists from the University of Berkeley (California) suggest using mobile phones as microscopes or "mobiscopes" (CellScope), with which you can not only get color images of malaria pathogens, but also tuberculosis bacteria labeled with fluorescent markers.
The CellScope prototype, described on July 22 in the online journal PLoS ONE, is the first step in bringing clinical microscopy beyond specialized laboratories into "field conditions" – for screening and diagnosis of various diseases.
Scientists have integrated the compact optics of the microscope into a special holder attached to a mobile phone. Using samples of the patient's blood and sputum, they were able to obtain images of Plasmodium falciparum, a parasite that causes malaria in humans, as well as images of red sickle–shaped blood cells using a camera phone. They also managed to obtain fluorescent images of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that causes tuberculosis. Moreover, the researchers have shown that using image analysis software, it is possible to automatically count the number of tuberculosis bacteria in the field of vision.
"The resulting images can be analyzed on a special website or transmitted wirelessly to clinical centers for remote diagnostics," says David Breslauer, one of the lead authors of the study and a graduate student at UC San Francisco/UC Berkeley Bioengineering Graduate Group. "The system can be used for rapid diagnosis and early detection of infectious diseases."
Fluorescence microscopy requires additional equipment, such as filters and special light sources, and is therefore more expensive than traditional microscopy operating under normal lighting. Scientists have shown that a full-fledged fluorescent system can be assembled for a mobile phone using its own built-in camera and relatively inexpensive components. In this experiment, for example, a phone with a camera resolution of 3.2 mp was used, and the developed software is easily installed on a standard mobile phone, turning it into an independent mini-laboratory and "a good platform for monitoring epidemics."
In addition to these purposes, CellScope can also be used for regular monitoring of the blood condition of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Experts in the field of agriculture were also interested in the technology, who noted that CellScope can also be used to diagnose plant diseases: thus, instead of sending a sample of a damaged leaf of a plant to the laboratory, farmers will be able to download its digital images for analysis.
Meanwhile, scientists are testing other CellScope prototypes for various fields of activity.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru23.07.2009