A pair of projects working on technology to transform the smartphone into a mobile diagnostic tool have won grants from the Vodafone Americas Foundation.
The products are designed to help both consumers and clinicians conduct vital diagnostic tests in the field, whether it's in a Third World country or an inner-city health clinic, and detect certain cancers and other health concerns in the early stages, when they might still be treatable.
The first-place winner in Vodafone's sixth annual Wireless Innovation Project is MobileOCT, a biophotonics company that's working with the San Diego-based Scripps Clinic to convert any digital camera into a device that can detect abnormal cell growth. The company's first focus is on a low-cost mobile colposcope that can help detect the first signs of cervical cancer.
According to the company's website, partnerships are underway with Partners in Health, Massachusetts General Hospital's Global Health Group and Scripps Medical Center to pilot the prototype in the United States, Mexico, Kenya and Haiti. The device has been tested at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford and will soon be trialed at Scripps and the University of Pennsylvania.
Company officials say they plan to further enhance the technology to convert any camera into a dermascope, endoscope and other diagnostic tools.
The third-place-winner in the Vodafone project is eyeMITRA, a project run out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab to develop a mobile phone attachment enabling remote imaging of the retina, which can be used to detect the early stages of Diabetic Retinography, the world's largest cause of blindness.
Company officials said the tool can be integrated with image analysis software and predictive analytics and cost about one-tenth of typical eye exam technology, making it ideal for medical clinics and health centers serving low-income populations and developing countries in need of standard eye care services.
MobileOCT received a $300,000 grant from Vodafone, while eyeMITRA earned a $100,000 grant. Both were announced at the Social Innovation Summit 2014, held May 28-29 at the United Nations Plaza in New York City.
“Mobile continues to have a transformational impact on society, and we are only starting to scratch the surface of its potential," said June Sugiyama, director of the Vodafone Americas Foundation, in a press release. She said the project, in its sixth year, has contributed more than $3 million to "innovative mobile technology solutions that strive to improve economic opportunity and quality of life for people around the globe, especially in developing countries.”
The Vodafone Americas Foundation is a philanthropic offshoot of the international telecommunications company, and one of Vodafone's 28 such foundations.
