Add microscopes to the list of things your iPhone can replace. A group of scientist visiting Tanzania were able to convert their iPhone 4S into a microscope using nothing by a $7 lens, some double sided tape, and a torch.

After macgyvering the iPhone 4S into a microscope, the scientest then used it to take pictures of stool samples to determine the presences of eggs in some schoolchildren. Amazingly, the iPhone picked up 70 percent of the infections.

Dr Isaac Bogoch, who used his own iPhone 4S in the experiment, had the following to say about the results:

“Ultimately we’d like something like this to be a useful diagnostic test. We want to put it in the hands of someone who might be able to use it. 70 per cent [accuracy] isn’t really good enough, we want to be above 80 per cent and we’re not quite there yet.”

Scientists and doctors have used smartphone microscopes in lab trials before, but Dr. Bogoch wanted to recreate a real world setting. The iPhone 4S was used to find eggs in the stool samples, which would then signify the presence of parasite infection. The smallest eggs visible using the iPhone were 40-60 micrometers in diameter.

Source: The Telegraph