A small digital microscope that costs just a few dollars can plug into a cell phone and perform basic medical diagnostics that would ordinarily require expensive lab equipment. The microscope, which uses no lenses, saves on cost and weight by using algorithms to get more information from images. The device can generate blood counts and identify disease cells and bacteria from simple images sent through a USB cord to a cell phone that uses software to processes the data. The latest version of the microscope integrates an interference-based contrast method to provide better images in addition to diagnostic information.

Simple scope: This microscope, which weighs just 46 grams, has no lenses. A sample is loaded into the open drawer; light from an LED passes through the sample and is picked up by an imaging chip that sends image data through the USB cord to a cell phone or laptop.
Credit: Aydogan Ozcan