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From the New York Times article:
 "Microscopes are invaluable tools to identify blood and other cells when screening for diseases like anemia, tuberculosis and malaria. But they are also bulky and expensive.
Now an engineer, using software that he developed and about $10 worth of off-the-shelf hardware, has adapted cellphones to substitute for microscopes.
... In one prototype, a slide holding a finger prick of blood can be
inserted over the phone’s camera sensor. The sensor detects the slide’s
contents and sends the information wirelessly to a hospital or regional
health center. For instance, the phones can detect the asymmetric shape
of diseased blood cells or other abnormal cells, or note an increase of
white blood cells, a sign of infection..."
An amazing development for field work, and for care in less developed areas. This tool is even more useful because of the cellular phone it is built on. A doctor in the field can use the phone to send their microscopic imagery back to a lab, and then use it to receive results from a lab, without ever having to bring physical samples to a lab, or return to pick up results.
This technology uses light interference to create a 3-D hologram of the cells on a slide rather than passing light through it, so it reveals different features than a normal microscope. It seems from the article that the interior details of a cell are not visible with this type of microscope. The invention could still become an invaluable tool for early screening of parasitic diseases, spikes or decreases in blood cell count, and other diseases that affect the shape or quantity of cell structures.
Have any of our readers had any experience with this type of holographic blood scan? How about any training opportunities to study similar techniques?
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