Cell Phones Useful for Medical Purposes?

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I read an interesting article on cnn.com about people using technology in new ways. Professor Aydogan Ozcan from UCLA converted a Sony Ericsson phone into a mobile medical lab that is capable of prototype imaging, just by adding a few extra parts. This device, called LUCAS (lensless ultra-wide-field cell monitoring array platform based on shadow imaging) takes very detailed pictures of bodily fluids, sends the picture to a computer, and then the computer text messages the results back to the phone all in a matter of seconds. This process is about 90% accurate and can analyze bodily fluids and count T-cells much faster than a human could. It is very useful in diagnosing anemia, AIDS, and malaria. This new way of using cell phones can revolutionize the way doctors treat people that live far away from hospitals.
A few downsides of Lucas are that it has difficulty counting individual cells when there is a high density, it cannot distinguish between different types of bacteria, and it only works in areas where there is cell phone coverage. The device is still considered a prototype, so in the future, the LUCAS team hopes to improve the imaging technology of the phone so that it can take images at a molecular level in order to count individual cells at a high density and distinguish between bacteria like good E. Coli and bad E. Coli. Also, many of the third world countries where this device would be particularly useful are working on developing cellular networks.
It’s really cool to see how people are using and getting creative with the technology around them in order to serve different purposes. If you would like to read the article, the link is posted below:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/03/medical.imaging.device/index.html