Global Health Medical Device Compendium/Global Focus Microscope

Tuberculosis is the second largest infectious cause of death in the world. It is highly prevalent in low resource settings because the equipment necessary, fluorescence microscopes, is high cost ($40,000 USD), leading to difficulty in properly diagnosing the infection.

The Global Focus Microscope analyses sputum smears (saliva and mucus mixture coughed up by a patient) to detect the presence of tuberculosis and malaria. The device is portable (small size and weight), is battery operated, has up to 1000x magnification, and is a low cost option ($240 USD to manufacture).

• Designed by: Andrew Miller - Rice University, Houston, TX
• Manufacturer (if different): 3rd Stone Design
• Manufacturer location: San Rafael, California

Tested in Tehran, Iran in 2010.

Rice University received a $2.2 million grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2006)

Andrew R. Miller, Gregory L. Davis, Z. Maria Oden, Mohamad Reza Razavi, Abolfazi Fateh, Morteza Ghazanfari, Farid Abdolrahimi, Shahin Poorazar, Fatemeh Sakhaie, Randall J. Olsen, Ahmad Reza Bahrmand, Mark C. Pierce, Edward A. Graviss, Rebecca Richards-Kortum. (2010) Portable, Battery-Operated, Low-Cost, Bright Field and Fluorescence Microscope. Retrieved July 3, 2014 from [1]

Rice University. (2011). Global Focus Microscope. Retrieved July 3, 2014 from [2]

3rd Stone Design Inc. Global Focus Microscope. Retrieved July 3, 2014 from [3]

Ben Coxworth. (2010). US $240 TB-detecting microscope on par with $40,000 devices. Retrieved July 3, 2014 from [4]

Priya Sabu. (2011). Cutting the price tag for microscopy diagnostics. Retrieved July 3, 2014 from [5]

Dr. Margaret Chan. (2010) Despite progress TB is the second biggest infectious killer of adults. Retrieved July 2, 2014 from [6]