This project will use an iPhone 4S to perform an optical A-scan ultrasound. An A-scan is a 1-dimensional ultrasound scan ophthalmologists use to measure the axial lengths of eyeball components. These measurements of the eye are used to calculate intraocular lens power for cataract surgeries. Probes typically operate at 10MHz since the short distances in the eyeball require high resolution. While there are handheld ultrasound probes available, they all use processor/video/input hardware created specifically for that device - driving up its cost while having a poor UI. Many doctors now already carry this hardware around in their pocket on a smartphone, so why not utilize it to drive down medical device costs and improve their user interfaces? The phone could also provide power to the probe, making this a valuable tool to doctors in areas where the only power available may be in their pocket. We propose connecting a probe tip to a transmitter/receiver circuit, which would also perform any necessary pre-processing of incoming data. The data would be sent via the new low-energy Bluetooth standard to an iPhone 4S, where the data is further processed, results are displayed, and IOL (intraocular lens) calculations are performed. Hopefully the circuit could be powered by the 3.3V accessory power pin on iPhones, but this remains to be determined. Alternatively, a small battery will power the circuit. We have a donated probe tip and iPhone 4S at our disposal.
