Vietnam doc makes homemade endoscope
Dr. Nguyen Phuoc Huy, a doctor working in the poor rural area around the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, has used some cheap parts, a PC, and some mad DIY skills to make a homemade endoscope — a device that normally costs upwards of $30,000. The system consists of a series of lenses connected to an off-the-shelf webcam, which itself is connected to a Pentium 4 computer (running Windows) and a color printer. The only significant component he had to buy was the scope itself, which cost $800. In addition to endoscope one he's built for himself, he's also built the devices for two of his colleagues. Expect to see this on our How-To column in the near future. (Psych.)
