A mobile phone and medicine are not two things that you would naturally think of going hand in hand. But the Nokia Lumia 1020 is no ordinary handset. Last month, two doctors wrote in the medical journal Histopathology and made the surprising claim that the 1020 could revolutionize the medical research world. Over on Nokia Conversations, the pair talk about what they meant.

Dr Mark Li-cheng Wu and Dr John Paul Graff explain how they have used Nokia’s flagship handset in the study of disease, including helping patients with HIV. They were able to take photographs of bacterium through a microscope using a Nokia Lumia 1020 and then take advantage of the massive resolution to zoom in on what they needed to see.

The ability to work with RAW DNG photos meant that highly detailed images were available. But it was not just the quality of images that made the doctors think about using the handset. Image stabilization meant that it was fairly easy to take photos through a microscope without unwanted motion blur starting to creep in.

Another important factor was that the image sensor, with 1.01 microns-per-pixel ratio, allowed for lossless zooming. The ability to easily move a mobile phone from one microscope to another opened up greater opportunities to the doctors and integration with OneDrive means that it is easy to share files with others in the medical community.

“When you’re looking through the scope and you see something that’s interesting, or you need to consult rapidly on it, in a matter of 30 seconds the Lumia can have your picture taken, saved and sent to somebody else,” says Dr John Paul Graff.

The pair have been using a Nokia Lumia 1020 in their work for the past ten months, favoring the handset over more traditional photomicroscopes or large, expensive cameras attached to standard microscopes.

There is also scope for greater customization. “Since this is a smartphone, I can write code for it and build my own apps. I come from a computer science background so I’m trying to create apps that will make our lives easier, such as controlling the microscope wirelessly.”

Have you used your Nokia Lumia 1020 — or any other Windows Phone — to take photos in a unusual way?

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