Ever wonder what happens to the old models of smartphones that are no more attractive to customers?
Well, we will share something interesting. Brands like Samsung have been making good use of the existing technology and repurposing older smartphones for clinical uses in India.
We underestimate and think that a phone’s shelf life is limited. But do Think again. What Samsung has been doing with the innovative use of old Galaxy phones to help eye care will swirl in your mind.
The usual demise of electronics is either scrapping or recycling in some way. However, Samsung India has come up with a novel idea to upcycle the old Galaxy smartphone range to help screen diseases. Just with the help of adding a retinal camera and using advanced AI algorithm, the Samsung Galaxy smartphones are serving the purpose and are being used for the initial diagnosis of eye diseases for patients in villages of tier 2,3, and 4 cities where there is limited healthcare provision. As of now, Samsung has converted around 200 units of phones and has disbursed EYELIKE Fundus Cameras to partners in India.
Samsung had opened an R & D centre in Bengaluru few years ago and this idea was conceptualised by the engineers by the same team which was set up to promote innovative thinking. To make this work, Samsung has partnered with h four eye hospitals – 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.
So far, 5000 patients have been examined and screened for eye diseases with the help of these devices.
