The camera phone: A novel aid in urologic practice

Effectiveness of Using Mobile Phone Image Capture for Collecting Secondary Data: A Case Study on Immunization History Data Among Children in Remote Areas of Thailand

Background

Entering data onto paper-based forms, then digitizing them, is a traditional data-management method that might result in poor data quality, especially when the secondary data are incomplete, illegible, or missing. Transcription errors from source documents to case report forms (CRFs) are common, and subsequently the errors pass from the CRFs to the electronic database.

Objective

This study aimed to demonstrate the usefulness and to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile phone camera applications in capturing health-related data, aiming for data quality and completeness as compared to current routine practices exercised by government officials.

Methods

In this study, the concept of “data entry via phone image capture” (DEPIC) was introduced and developed to capture data directly from source documents. This case study was based on immunization history data recorded in a mother and child health (MCH) logbook. The MCH logbooks (kept by parents) were updated whenever parents brought their children to health care facilities for immunization. Traditionally, health providers are supposed to key in duplicate information of the immunization history of each child; both on the MCH logbook, which is returned to the parents, and on the individual immunization history card, which is kept at the health care unit to be subsequently entered into the electronic health care information system (HCIS). In this study, DEPIC utilized the photographic functionality of mobile phones to capture images of all immunization-history records on logbook pages and to transcribe these records directly into the database using a data-entry screen corresponding to logbook data records. DEPIC data were then compared with HCIS data-points for quality, completeness, and consistency.

Results

As a proof-of-concept, DEPIC captured immunization history records of 363 ethnic children living in remote areas from their MCH logbooks. Comparison of the 2 databases, DEPIC versus HCIS, revealed differences in the percentage of completeness and consistency of immunization history records. Comparing the records of each logbook in the DEPIC and HCIS databases, 17.3% (63/363) of children had complete immunization history records in the DEPIC database, but no complete records were reported in the HCIS database. Regarding the individual’s actual vaccination dates, comparison of records taken from MCH logbook and those in the HCIS found that 24.2% (88/363) of the children’s records were absolutely inconsistent. In addition, statistics derived from the DEPIC records showed a higher immunization coverage and much more compliance to immunization schedule by age group when compared to records derived from the HCIS database.

Conclusions

DEPIC, or the concept of collecting data via image capture directly from their primary sources, has proven to be a useful data collection method in terms of completeness and consistency. In this study, DEPIC was implemented in data collection of a single survey. The DEPIC concept, however, can be easily applied in other types of survey research, for example, collecting data on changes or trends based on image evidence over time. With its image evidence and audit trail features, DEPIC has the potential for being used even in clinical studies since it could generate improved data integrity and more reliable statistics for use in both health care and research settings.

Quantitative imaging with a mobile phone microscope

Use of optical imaging for medical and scientific applications requires accurate quantification of features such as object size, color, and brightness. High pixel density cameras available on modern mobile phones have made photography simple and convenient for consumer applications; however, the camera hardware and software that enables this simplicity can present a barrier to accurate quantification of image data. This issue is exacerbated by automated settings, proprietary image processing algorithms, rapid phone evolution, and the diversity of manufacturers. If mobile phone cameras are to live up to their potential to increase access to healthcare in low-resource settings, limitations of mobile phone-based imaging must be fully understood and addressed with procedures that minimize their effects on image quantification. Here we focus on microscopic optical imaging using a custom mobile phone microscope that is compatible with phones from multiple manufacturers. We demonstrate that quantitative microscopy with micron-scale spatial resolution can be carried out with multiple phones and that image linearity, distortion, and color can be corrected as needed. Using all versions of the iPhone and a selection of Android phones released between 2007 and 2012, we show that phones with greater than 5 MP are capable of nearly diffraction-limited resolution over a broad range of magnifications, including those relevant for single cell imaging. We find that automatic focus, exposure, and color gain standard on mobile phones can degrade image resolution and reduce accuracy of color capture if uncorrected, and we devise procedures to avoid these barriers to quantitative imaging. By accommodating the differences between mobile phone cameras and the scientific cameras, mobile phone microscopes can be reliably used to increase access to quantitative imaging for a variety of medical and scientific applications.

Mobile phone technology for improved mental health care in South Africa: possibilities and challenges

We consider the potential and current uses of mobile phones in the mental health field in South Africa. From the limited research conducted, mobile phones seem most suited to enhancing cognitive behavioural therapy. In addition, mobile phones seem to have many other benefits, such as increasing adherence to medication, allowing therapists to monitor clients’ progress, improving the therapeutic relationship, and providing information to both clients and therapists. We also examine the ethical concerns and challenges related to mental health care in South Africa and emphasise the need for psychologists to exercise caution in incorporating such technologies into their practice. At this stage, there is insufficient evidence to support the notion that these technologies can replace face-to-face interventions; however, they have many properties which, if used correctly and with ethical considerations, may enhance therapy, prevention, and public mental health.

The use of mobile phones as a data collection tool: a report from a household survey in South Africa

Background

To investigate the feasibility, the ease of implementation, and the extent to which community health workers with little experience of data collection could be trained and successfully supervised to collect data using mobile phones in a large baseline survey

Methods

A web-based system was developed to allow electronic surveys or questionnaires to be designed on a word processor, sent to, and conducted on standard entry level mobile phones.

Results

The web-based interface permitted comprehensive daily real-time supervision of CHW performance, with no data loss. The system permitted the early detection of data fabrication in combination with real-time quality control and data collector supervision.

Conclusions

The benefits of mobile technology, combined with the improvement that mobile phones offer over PDA's in terms of data loss and uploading difficulties, make mobile phones a feasible method of data collection that needs to be further explored.

Web-based image transmission: a novel approach to aid communication in split liver transplantation

BACKGROUND

Split liver transplantation (SLT) is technically demanding and requires good communication between transplant centers. The recipient surgeon receiving a shipped split liver needs detailed information on allocation of inflow and outflow vessels. We describe the first use of an image transmission system to facilitate SLT.

METHODS

Twenty cadaver livers undergoing ex situ splitting were studied. Fifteen were shared between the geographically separate Birmingham adult and pediatric centers and five were shared with other UK centers.

RESULTS

A total of six to eight images of each split graft were taken with a camera at standardized settings using the National Organ Retrieval Imaging System (NORIS), showing details of appearance, size, and anatomy of allocated inflow and outflow vessels. These were uploaded using a personal digital assistant to a secure website (http://www.noris.org.uk). The remote recipient surgeon then viewed these images by logging onto the password-protected website. Minimum time interval between division of the hilar vessels and completion of the split procedure was two h, allowing remote surgeon to view their allocated "shipped" graft in advance of commencing surgery.

CONCLUSION

This advanced yet simple image transmission system has the potential for routine application in transplant surgery, not only for splitting but also for reporting injuries and graft steatosis.

Low cost, portable detection of gold nanoparticle-labeled microfluidic immunoassay with camera cell phone

This paper describes the use of camera cell phone to detect the gold nanoparticle-labeled immunoassay results on microfluidic chip. On-chip heterogeneous immunoassay between anti-human IgG and human IgG (hIgG) was performed and the results were amplified by gold nanoparticle-enhanced silver staining to transform the nano-scale probe into detectable silver precipitation film. The detection results obtained by camera phone showed good correlation with the concentration of hIgG. This detection scheme is simple, low cost and easy to use and has significant promise for portable diagnosis and point of care testing on microfluidic platform.

Can the power of mobile phones be used to improve tuberculosis diagnosis in developing countries?

The low-cost Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptibility (MODS) assay is a non-proprietary test that delivers rapid and accurate diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug-resistant TB. Although methodologically straightforward, implementation is challenging in isolated settings where personnel trained in plate reading are lacking. One affordable strategy to address this shortfall is the use of mobile phones, first to transmit images captured by an inverted microscope to a remote site where pattern recognition is performed by trained personnel, and second to receive the resulting output of this analysis. Such a system could be used for training of laboratory personnel through distance learning, resolution of equivocal appearances and quality assurance.