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Interview: Vodafone Wireless Innovation Project Winner, CellScope
The Vodafone Americas Foundation recently announced the 3 Winners from it's Wireless Innovation Project, a new initiative that identifies and funds unique innovations using wireless related technology offering the best potential to address critical social issues around the world. The three winning innovations will share in prizes totaling up to $700,000 USD to support their next phase of advancement and implementation.
We interviewed the 3 Winners projects, to share with you their ideas, work, and innovativations. Learn more about CellScope below in this interview with Dr. Erik Douglas!
How did the Project get started?
The CellScope began as a project in Prof. Dan Fletcher's "Optics and Microscopy" course at Berkeley. Students designed the basic optical layout to demonstrate the feasibility of a practical "cell phone-microscope", and we have gone on from there to develop working devices for remote medical diagnosis.
What are you most excited about in this work?
With the CellScope, we are trying to use the rapid adoption of wireless phones to meet the critical need for healthcare in the developing world. The CellScope is a novel combination of two well-accepted technologies: diagnostic microscopy and cellular phones. Microscopy is the gold standard for medical diagnosis, and by using clinically-accepted optical microscopy we hope to achieve rapid adoption.
While the CellScope was developed for remote diagnosis of diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, it could also be useful for at-home patient monitoring in the developed world. For example, it could provide blood count information to chemotherapy patients saving them a trip to the clinic and giving more regular information on their status.
What's next for your Project?
Our next steps are clinical validation in the lab, and moving toward rigorous field testing with partners in the developing world. With support from the Vodafone Wireless Innovation Project, the combination of diagnostic microscopy and wireless communication could have a tremendous impact on healthcare worldwide.
How can those interested in collaborating get in contact with you?
To learn more about the Project or collaborate with the team, please visit:
- Amy Sample Ward's blog
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excellent
This is fantastic "While the CellScope was developed for remote diagnosis of diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, it could also be useful for at-home patient monitoring in the developed world." Will this really work? Do the people who are doing the work in these countries have the access?
Adirec