Smartphone-Based Endoscope System for Advanced Point-of-Care Diagnostics: Feasibility Study

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Endoscopy

Background:

• Endoscopic techniques are crucial for internal organ diagnosis and surgical guidance.
• Current endoscopes are limited by large ancillary devices, restricting use to clinical settings.
• Endoscope design and imaging capabilities have seen minimal advancement for decades.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a compact, affordable smartphone-based endoscope system.
• To integrate advanced endoscopic functionalities into a portable device.
• To demonstrate point-of-care feasibility through human subject imaging.

Main Methods:

• Developed a smartphone endoscope system with a portable light source, relay lens, and custom Android app.
• Integrated three types of endoscopic probes (rigid and flexible).
• Compared imaging quality and performance against a commercial clinical endoscope system.

Main Results:

• Acquired endoscopic images from 15 volunteers using the smartphone system and a commercial system.
• Demonstrated acceptable imaging performance comparable to conventional endoscopes.
• Utilized a head-mounted display (HMD) to improve eye-hand coordination and reduce spatial disorientation.

Conclusions:

• The smartphone-based endoscope system demonstrated performance comparable to commercial systems in otolaryngology examinations.
• Feasibility of conducting endoscopic procedures using a custom HMD was successfully demonstrated.
• The developed system offers a portable and potentially more accessible alternative for endoscopic applications.