By Jocelyne Hilary, Contributing Writer
iPhones have without a doubt proven to be efficient for purposes other than calling and texting. With the built-in iPod, great camera, iMessage, internet, and numerous apps, one would think everything was achieved. However, one function many would not have suspected of the iPhone
to be able to do is cure intestinal worm infections. Now how does any cellular device achieve this, let alone an iPhone?
Intestinal worm infections are very common, affecting up to two billion people a year. Most of these victims, however, come from more underdeveloped countries. Intestinal worm infections can occur due to various reasons including the consumption of filthy water, raw food, and on rare occasions skin absorption. The best cure for this is prevention as these intestinal parasites can deteriorate their host’s health.
Typically, when these parasites have entered the body, they are known to infect gastrointestinal tracts. Despite being able to thrive anywhere in the human body, these worms tend to prefer the intestinal walls of their hosts.
Symptoms of this parasitic infection vary from minor consequences such as fatigue, fever, and dizziness, to more serious problems such as abdominal pain, lung congestion, and rectal prolapse.
In rural Tanzania, intestinal worm infections are very common among children. This inspired scientists to take samples of the learning environment and check for signs of possible parasite infections.
What made this experiment stand out from others is the fact that the use of equipment was unique.
The researchers used an iPhone to play the role of a microscope while obtaining samples. The cellular device had an $8 ball lens attached to the
original camera lens with double-sided sticky tape and a regular torch.
The device was then used to take samples of objects in different rooms, hoping to identify any eggs so that the parasites could be removed before
becoming hazardous. Dr.Isaac Bogoch, a specialist in internal medicine at Toronto General Hospital, was intrigued by smartphone microscope apps and wanted to “recreate it in a real world.” The specialist had expressed that the only reason he had used an Apple device was because that was his personal handset device. Despite only being a test trial, the iPhone had picked up 70 percent of present sample infections and 90 percent of heavily
infected samples. This is not as efficient as microscopes, but it is a huge step in the future of smartphone usage and the use of cost-efficient equipment.
The result of the experiment greatly helped identify the eggs of the parasites which were present in highly infected samples. This is optimistic news as this could help diagnose many children as the identification of eggs
could substantially prevent the development of intestinal infections.
