Mobiles set to be used to detect illness

A team at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a handheld scanner that can use mobile phone technology to create images that may reveal illnesses such as tumors. The scanning device can be plugged into a mobile phone, which can pass raw data onto processors, for interpretation. Images are then transmitted back to the phone for viewing.

The invention could aid countries that lack the funds for medical imaging equipment such as ultrasounds and x-rays. It substantially reduces costs because the software to process the data, which is the most expensive part of any machine, can be located at a central location and be fed data from multiple remote sites.

Professor Boris Rubinsky, who team conceived the idea, said, "Physicians in developing countries have the same quality of training and capabilities as anywhere else. The main difference in medical care is the advanced medical technology that is too expensive for rural areas and developing countries.” The physician cans than use their own cellular to plug into that device and send the raw data to the central facility.