Development and characterization of portable smartphone-based imaging device

Many diseases in rural areas and developing countries are detected late at an advanced stage when treatment might involve complications and higher cost, resulting in a greater number of fatalities. This study aims to make early disease detection simpler and affordable for people living in remote areas and developing countries. A new age optical microscope with high sensitivity diagnosis can revolutionize this gap in disease detection. Here, a smartphone-based imaging device (SID) using optics and a smartphone interface was developed to speedup the process of diagnosis in areas that do not have easy access to health centers and diagnostic clinics. The device was built using acrylic sheets to make it less bulky and customizable and three-dimensional (3D) printed mechanical parts were used to increase stability. The study includes calibration, and testing the device with various samples to determine its capabilities. Images were acquired using the various types of BLIPS lens integrated onto the smartphone camera lens and compared with optical microscope images. The device can visualize single human blood cell which is 8 μm in size using ultra-BLIPS lens and magnification is comparable to an objective lens used in an optical microscope.