Smartphone-based surgical image guidance: future or fantasy?

Abstract

Smartphones have been proposed for numerous biomedical imaging applications, many of which use fluorescence imaging techniques. While the most common applications are point-of-care testing and diagnostic imaging of external tissues, there are also recent reports on smartphone-based imaging for real-time treatment guidance (photodynamic therapy, endoscopy, and surgery). The most commonly cited reasons for incorporation of smartphones in biomedical imaging systems are cost and scalability; however, in some contexts, this may not be the paramount design constraint. As novel smartphone-based imaging systems continue to be developed for various clinical applications, it is important to establish guidelines for effective vs ineffective smartphone utilization in biomedical optics. In this presentation, we propose six guidelines for assessing smartphone utilization in biomedical imaging and apply them to emerging smartphone-based imaging systems within treatment guidance applications.