Samsung is extending its Galaxy Upcycling program to India in a bid to offer affordable eye-care solution to the people. The Galaxy Upcycling program repurposes older smartphones into medical diagnosis cameras.
In ophthalmic health care, Galaxy smartphones are turned into portable retinal cameras to diagnose eye disease at a fraction of the cost of commercial instruments.
Samsung was hitherto running the eye-care program in Vietnam. Now it has extended it to India, Morocco and Papua New Guinea.
"This Galaxy Upcycling program is helping to address approximately 1 billion global cases of vision impairment that are preventable with proper diagnosis," Samsung said in a statement.
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This is how your Galaxy phone can become a retinal camera
Since 2018. Samsung has partnered with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and Yonsei University Health System (YUHS) for this program.
Typically, your older Galaxy smartphone becomes the 'brain' of the 'EYELIKE' handheld fundus camera that connects to a lens attachment for enhanced fundus diagnosis, while the smartphone is used to capture images.
"The Galaxy device then utilizes an artificial intelligence algorithm to analyze and diagnose the images for ophthalmic diseases, and connects to an app that accurately captures patient data and suggests a treatment regimen at a fraction of the cost of commercial instruments," Samsung said.
The unique and affordable diagnosis camera can screen patients for conditions that may lead to blindness, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration.
"This program embodies Samsung’s belief that technology can enrich people’s lives and help us build a more equitable and sustainable future for all,” said Sung-Koo Kim, VP of Sustainability Management Office, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.
Samsung is also broadening its capabilities to new screening areas, including using upcycled Galaxy devices to create smartphone-based portable colposcopes to screen for cervical cancer and improve women’s accessibility to quality health care.
