AI-Enabled Smart Microscope Platform Supports Low-Resource Settings

May 2026

A team at the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health, in collaboration with Mobile Imaging Innovations, Inc, a Chicago-based company, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled smart microscope platform specifically designed for use in low-resource environments. The device provides accessibility to areas it is most needed; it is highly portable, modular and durable, with built-in resistance to dust, humidity and high temperatures. The platform is powered by solar and battery systems, enabling reliable operation in rural and remote areas with limited or no access to electricity. 

This multi-country project spans Mali, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. The platform is designed for ease of use and requires minimal training for frontline providers to capture, store and securely transmit high-quality digital images of microscope slides for remote analysis. By enabling telepathology, this system addresses key barriers related to specimen transport and the severe shortage of trained pathologists in low- and middle-income countries. 

Leading the project is Mamoudou Maiga, MD, PhD, associate director of the Center for Global Oncology at the Havey Institute for Global Health and associate professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.  

“To further overcome these limitations, we are developing and integrating advanced artificial intelligence algorithms capable of automated image analysis and decision support,” Maiga said. “These AI tools are being trained to interpret a range of clinically relevant specimens, including acid-fast bacilli smears for tuberculosis diagnosis, as well as cytology slides for breast and cervical cancer screening.”  

Co-leading the project is Steve Wang from Mobile Imaging Innovations, Inc., with key contributions from Matthew Glucksberg, PhD, co-director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) and professor of Biomedical Engineering at McCormick School of Engineering, and a multidisciplinary student team. The student contributors include Tiobsta Ewnetu Ayele, Soliana Ewnetu Ayele, Anita Bassey, Mohamed Diallo and Nicholas Carlos Lagunas. 

“This integrated platform has the potential to significantly improve diagnostic efficiency, expand access to timely and accurate pathology services, and support scalable screening and triage programs in underserved settings,” Maiga said. 

The Center for Global Oncology is a shared center with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Havey Institute for Global Health.

Mamoudou Maiga, MD, PhD is a member of the Havey Institute for Global Health and Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS).  

To learn more about the Center for Global Oncology, visit their website. 

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