IPhone Converted to Serve as Microscope

Was able to help detect diseases in schoolchildren

Scientists attached a £5 lens to the Apple iPhone using double-sized tape and, with the addition of a torch, were able to use the phone to detect intestinal worm infections in schoolchildren in rural Tanzania.

Pictures of stool samples were taken with the phone and studied for the presence of eggs – the main sign of the parasite.

When the results were compared with a laboratory microscope, the iPhone pictures picked up 70 per cent of the infections.