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Diligent research plus $75 has led researchers at the University of California, Berkeley to develop a cellphone accessory that turns any cameraphone into a mobile microscope. That, coupled with the ability of most mobile phones to wirelessly connect with computers either via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, makes for a very convenient way to do a little bit of research and medical diagnosis. With enough time and training, people might even be able to do this themselves. The concept is so simple I’m amazed nobody has ever thought of it before. Finally all those megapixels have found a way to be useful, for once.

You might be tempted to ridicule and judge it by how it looks but once you realize how useful this thing could be, hopefully you’ll come to your senses. The device itself actually has two versions: one with about 5x magnification for taking images of moles and rashes, and another with about 60x magnification for capturing the details of blood cells and parasites.

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the day this device becomes official. Right now, the creators plan on taking it for a test run in Uganda, but hopefully they finish the final product soon and release it to the public. Just imagine using your cameraphone to capture images of the things under your skin and in your blood then just sending them to your doctor via the Internet for diagnosis. And if it doesn’t work so well, at least it saved you from gas money or a commute to the doctor’s clinic.

Read [Technology Review] Via [Gizmodo]