How Samsung is repurposing its old Galaxy phones and turning them into medical cameras

The lack of eye specials in rural areas and the slow turnout of results illustrate how access to basic health care is still difficult in these parts of India. But South Korean giant Samsung believes a smartphone can improve access to quality healthcare and bring more awareness and improve knowledge on eye health in far-flung areas of the country.
The solution to the problem that Samsung suggests is to convert older Galaxy smartphones to run the Eyelike handheld fundus camera, which connects to a lens attachment to provide an enhanced fundus diagnosis. The device then uses an artificial intelligence (AI) system to process the images it receives and then sends them to an app that captures patient data and suggests the next course of action.
“The Galaxy upcycling programme not only gives a new life to some of our older Galaxy smartphones repurposing them into useful devices but they can also be used as diagnoses cameras to screen patients for conditions like diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration,” Mohan Rao Goli, Corporate VP and CTO, Samsung Research Institute, Bengaluru (SRI-B) told on the sidelines of World Sight Day.

The programme was first introduced Samsung in South Korea in 2017. Since then, Samsung has expanded its Galaxy Upcycling programme to six countries, including India. The world’s top smartphone maker has partnered with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), Yonsei University Health System (YUHS) in Korea and LabSD for the Galaxy Upcycling programme.
Instead of turning an old smartphone into e-waste, Samsung is using those devices to help detect and diagnose eye disease. (Image credit: Samsung)
According to Goli, its partners provide the handheld lens while Samsung offers its older Galaxy smartphones with built-in software. Samsung’s R&D Institue Bengaluru has been involved in developing the fundus image capture mechanism and AI-based algorithms for the camera.
“When you connect the lens attachment for enhanced fundus diagnosis while the smartphone is used for capturing the images. The Galaxy device then utilises AI algorithms and analyses the images to diagnose ophthalmic diseases. The data captured the phone then sync with the mobile app, which suggests if the patient needs any further treatment,” explains Goli how the smartphone-based fundus imaging works.
In India, Samsung has partnered with four eyes hospitals to run the Galaxy Upcycling programme, which includes Sitapur Eye Hospital in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, Aravind Eye Hospital in Pondicherry, Guruhasti Chikitsalya in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital in New Delhi. As of now, the company has upcycled 200 units of second-hand Galaxy smartphones and dributed Eyelike fundus cameras to its partners in India. Samsung has set a target to screen 150,000 individuals in India for eye diseases using the Eyelike fundus cameras the end of 2023.

“Repurposing old smartphones into medical diagnosis cameras is filling the missing link between the last man and the healthcare provider,” says Dr Madhu Bhadauria, CMO of Sitapur Eye Hospital, describing how a smartphone can help break these barriers and provide access to quality eye care to many more people in rural parts of the country at a fraction of cost. According to Bhadauria, the cost of conventional devices that take fundus images starts from Rs 10 lakh and goes up to Rs 60 lakh.
A Galaxy phone repurposed as a medical device is actively used four eye hospitals in India. (Image credit: Samsung)
Bhadauria says an early diagnosis and treatment decrease the risk of severe vision. Having fundus images out of old smartphones means patients can be scanned at a scale but this also saves a lot of cost and only those people will be referred to a doctor who requires extensive care.
“A picture taken on a Samsung phone goes to a senior optometr who’s in the speciality, one picture goes to the clinician and one picture goes to AI. At different levels, these pictures are being graded and then the final analysis will be done as to how effective the AI portion is,” Bhadauria explains.
She says one week of training for a non-technical person is needed to understand how this smartphone-based fundus camera works.
“I would not say that the pictures are as good as one would get using traditional devices that take fundus images, but the quality is enough for a patient who is in a rural area and has no access to quality eye care. This will, at least, ensure that patients will be diagnosed on time and we can save them from blindness,” Bhadauria says when asked about how comparable the pictures one gets on the smartphone-based fundus camera compared to sophicated medical cameras.