A simple smartphone device could help physicians determine the effectiveness of treatments, according to a recent study in the journal ACS Nano. The device converts the phone into a powerful mini-microscope, allowing physicians to detect individual viruses for the first time.
This latest imaging device, which has been designed by a team at the University of California, is the most advanced to date and works on the nanoscale. Weighing just 6.5oz, it can determine the severity of an infection and therefore indicate how well a treatment is working.
Smartphone-based imaging is a growing field that shows great potential. According to its inventors, this microscope "holds significant promise for various point-of-care applications such as viral load measurements or other biomedical tests conducted in remote or resource-limited environments."
