In Other Journals

With three-quarters of the world’s population having no access to medical imaging, a group of US and Israeli researchers has set out to use mobile phone technology in the fight against disease in developing countries. Motivated by World Health Organization reports highlighting this alarming lack of access to affordable and reliable medical imaging technologies, researchers developed a system through which raw imaging data can be sent via mobile phone to a base where it can be processed and reconstructed to produce a medical image. The image can then be interpreted and reported back to the patient site. The potential feasibility of the system is promising, with the authors concluding that a standard commercial mobile phone can be used in both the data-collection phase and the display of results. They comment that this technology could decrease the complexity of operating imaging systems and make diagnostic and interventional imaging available in disadvantaged, non-industrialised countries.