CellScope – Another Smartphone Bolt-On

Turning your smartphone into a diagnostic device seems to be a large focus right now.  I just saw another one called CellScope.  They allow you to take a picture of your inner ear or your  skin and submit those for review. 

From a recent article:

Khosla Ventures also recently invested $1 million in CellScope, an alum from Rock Health’s first class of startups in 2011. The company is developing smartphone peripheral devices designed for consumers to use for at-home diagnosis.

Think of it as a “modern-day digital first aid kit.”

CellScope’s first offering will be a smartphone-enabled otoscope that will enable physicians to remotely diagnose ear infections in children. Parents will be able to use the peripheral, which attaches to a smartphone camera lens, to send an image of their child’s inner ear that physicians can use to make a diagnosis and then write a prescription if need be. CellScope says ear infections in children make up 30 million doctor visits annually in the US alone. The consumer device would help parents miss less work and potentially cut down on late night emergency room visits, according to the startup.

The startup traces its origins to bioengineering Professor Dan Fletcher’s lab at UC Berkeley, where CellScope founders Erik Douglas and Amy Sheng were developing cellphone-microscopy for remote diagnosis in developing countries. CellScope expects to launch future products focused on throat and skin exams, including non-clinical apps for consumer skincare.