智能手机：Wikimedia Commons的图像

手机已迅速变成具有多种用途的设备，并设置为诊断寄生虫病的有用工具。它们用作简单显微镜的使用已有数年了。例如，2011年来自加利福尼亚大学戴维斯大学的一组描述将智能手机转换为350倍显微镜（带有后处理）或可见光分光光度计的两个附件的开发。DIY instructions这样做的同样也在2011年发布。

In Tanzania researchershave assembleda home-made version of the Californian device that cost about $8 and used it to look for helminth eggs in stool samples, and earlier this yearSchistosomeeggs in urine sampleshave been reported to be detected使用一个手机和一个Foldscopein Ghana.

More recently, members of a team atPacific Northwest National Laboratoryhave developed a simple and extremely cheap microscope using a mobile phone and a glass bead. As demonstrated在他们的视频中a glass bead is held in place over the camera lens of the phone by a simple device made using a 3D printer. They claim the materials required to convert a phone into a microscope cost less than $1, making it ideal for use in low income settings, though this does not, of course, include the 3D printer or the smart phone.Detailed instructions, including a source for the various sizes of beads that produce magnification of 100x, 350x and 1000x and 3D printer software to print the holder that takes the bead and a microscope slide are provided free of charge. So far this device does not seem to have been tested in the field for identification of such things as helminth eggs or malaria infected erythrocytes; an exciting project for a BugBitten reader to take on!

低技术方法

同时，研究人员University of Houstonhave developed a lens made from a plastic-like polymer, polydimethylsiloxane. Droplets of the honey-like substance harden when heated and the curvature of the droplets makes them good lenses. With manufacturing costs at $3 per lens this is another cheap option and, as the droplet is fixed to the camera lens with an adhesive, no special holder is required. However with a magnification of only 120x its uses for parasite identification may be more limited.

A more sophisticated use of mobile phones for parasite identification has, however, been developed and recently tested in Cameroon.

iPhoneLoa loadetection

丝虫round虫（线虫）是诸如象征性疾病的原因（lymphatic filariasis),loa loa丝虫病和河流失明（onchocerciasis). The adult females shed tiny thread-like larvae known as microfilariae into the blood stream or skin and these are passed on in a blood meal to mosquitoes, horseflies or blackflies respectively.

Mass treatment of populations in areas endemic for filarial nematode infections, using ivermectin alone, or in combination with albendazole, is the mainstay of strategies aimed at elimination of filariasis. Although this is very effective for treatment of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis, ivermectin can cause severe side effects inLoa loa- 感染了30,000个微丝菌 /毫升及以上的循环水平的人。其中包括死亡的微丝菌引起的潜在致命性脑病，因此，在这些蠕虫的地区是竞争性大规模药物管理的地区，已被暂停，阻碍了消除运动。

一个解决这个问题的办法是确定不太和谐le with heavyLoa loa感染并将其排除在大规模药物治疗中，这是一种称为测试而不是治疗的策略，但是定量筛查需要训练有素的显微镜在厚血液涂片中检测和计算微丝菌，并且在许多野外设置中都很慢，并且在许多现场设置中都不实用。这是手机进来的地方。

CellScope LOA

An international team led by Daniel Fletcher and Thomas Nutman have developed a method of quantifying the number of live microfilariae in a 200 µm thin layer of blood based on the displacement of red blood cells caused by their wriggling movement.他们的最新出版物描述了一种原型，称为CellScope LOA，它代表了其原始设计的显着改进。与训练有素的技术人员进行的手动黄金标准显微镜相比，它的表现非常出色，当时对喀麦隆患者的厚血液涂片进行了测试（相关因子（R）= 0.99）。对于高于微丝脂质负荷阈值的人，它的特异性为94％，100％敏感，这可能会在伊维菌素治疗后引起严重的不良反应。

CellScope LOA由一个3D打印的盖子组成，该盖子容纳iPhone和镜头模块以及一个3D打印的基地，该盖子容纳可移动的马车，可容纳血液负载的毛细管，一个LED阵列可提供照明，控制电子设备和USP端口，以提供电源电源到设备。从手指刺中取的血液被装入毛细管中，并插入马车中。

由于毛细管沿着镜头移动，并通过检测由蠕动的微丝菌引起的红细胞运动来定位和计数五个不同的电影，并在5个不同的角度拍摄。收集血液样本并分析仅3分钟所需的总时间。

Loa loamicrofilariae can be distinguished from those of the other major filarial worms in Cameroon because the peak circulationloa loamicrofilariae in periphery vessels occurs between 10am and 2pm whereas circulation ofwucheria bancroftimicrofilariae(one of the causative agents of lymphatic filariasis) peaks at night andOnchocercamicrofilariae (the causative agents of river blindness) are usually in the skin or lymphatic system.

The development of CellScope Loa is a remarkable achievement made possible as result of collaboration with engineers, clinicians and local health workers. Although this is only a prototype the researchers are confident that few regulatory barriers would prevent its use as part of mass drug administration campaigns in Central Africa. It is to be hoped that aspects of scale up for manufacturing, including cost reduction, will be developed rapidly.

Reflection

显然，手机摄像头和放大镜头的组合为未经训练的工人在偏远地区拍摄的图片或视频提供了机会，可以立即将其发送到诊断实验室或当场分析，从而加快有效的治疗或增强研究项目。我期待阅读有关该技术的进一步进步。