Students design low-cost otoscope to help diagnose hearing loss in developing countries 



According to the World Health Organization 360 million people in the world suffer from hearing loss. A large portion of those affected live in developing countries, particularly South Asia, Asia Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa. Experts say at least half of all hearing loss cases are avoidable through primary prevention. In developing countries, however, primary prevention is hard to come by.

That is why a group of students at Texas A&M University has designed a low-cost otoscope that when plugged into a smartphone, can take photos of the inside of the ear. The group, members of Texas A&M's chapter of Engineering World Health, has designed and built a model LED otoscope that it is submitting to the national organization's design competition. The group's hope is that its design could be turned into a kit for easy production around the world.
Robert Hunt, design team leader, and Tessa Bronez, vice president, both received degrees in biomedical engineering this May, and they hope the group continues to refine their design now that they have graduated.
"We have a lot of electrical engineers on the team, and they were really excited about doing something with optics," Bronez said.
Great Job guys..


 

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