CellScope: Diagnosing Ear Infections With Your iPhone

Each year, 30 million medical visits in the U.S. are due to pediatric ear infections. That’s why a startup company called CellScope has developed a device that can help make home diagnostics a reality. The device connects to the iPhone to produce a magnified view inside the ear, from which users can capture and upload pictures to a web platform. Users can then update their pictures with notes about their child’s symptoms and ask their doctor to conduct a remote exam (in which prescriptions can be called in).

CellScope has some interesting perks other than giving detailed images of the inner ear. It has the potential to reduce office visits and hospital bills, as well as provide health care providers in developing countries with mobile microscopes. The CellScope otoscope also provides parents with an easier way to get second opinions on their child’s symptoms and keep online records for future reference.

Currently the company is testing the mobile otoscope with doctors in the Bay Area along with conducting a clinical study to show the effectiveness of the images. The device is expected to be available to the public once released, although prescriptions and actual medical diagnoses would have to be approved through a user’s doctor.