URBANA — Primary-care physicians could be using a handheld device that combines the functions of several tools at once, all linked to massive data storage, within the decade.

The National Institutes of Health have awarded a team led by the University of Illinois $5 million over five years — with a renewal options — to improve the UI's optical tomography tool.

The handheld tool can scope and make video of ears, eyes, cervical tissue and skin with only the change of a tip, and enter the bloodstream with fiber cable attached.

Professor Stephen A. Boppart of the Beckman Institute is the principal investigator, working with electronics giant Texas Instruments and Carle Foundation Hospital to improve the device, which has been used in testing for three years already.

It has also been used on some patients for more than a year, Boppart said.

Other partners in the U.S. and Korea include the Eye Center in Champaign, Welch Allyn (a leader in office-based diagnostic instruments), AdvancedMEMS, a medical imaging company, and Kyungpook National University in Korea.

Team partners include Michael Novak of Carle, Samir Sayegh of the Eye Center, Jeehyun Park of Kyungpook National University, Charles Stewart of Welch Allyn, Kenneth Nesteroff and Murtaza Ali of Texas Instruments and Daniel McCormick of AdvancedMEMs.

The optical coherence tomography device is a digital optical analog to a sonogram in some of its functions. The drawback of an optical device compared to a sonogram is that it penetrates less deeply.

But it's superior in resolution, Boppart notes, making it possible for a primary-care physician to monitor skin cells, and, for instance, the margins of breast cancer, before sending the data on to a specialist.

"It's an incredibly versatile tool," says post-doctoral researcher Woonggyu Jung. "It will replace several tools at a reasonable cost with much higher resolution."

Ophthalmoscopes and otoscopes are essentially magnifiers with lights, he said.

Compared to an ophthal-moscope, the device takes much higher resolution images — micron-scale reso- lution of one millionth of a meter — of the back of the eye, and the images are instantly stored to a wall-mounted computer that will be part of the of $5,000 to $10,000 cost when the device first enters the market.

The images are in three dimensions and in real time.

Boppart said the device will have particular first-line use in diagnosing ear infections and diabetic retinopathy.

Boppart, who has an engineering doctorate from MIT and medical degree from Harvard, said antibiotics may kill much of the bacteria in ear infection, but if a biofilm of microbes remains in the middle ear, the infection could come back.

"With the increasing rise of obesity in this country, it's more important than ever to scan for early signs of diabetic retinopathy," he added.

The images could also replace biopsies in some cases as a noninvasive tool for physicians, who could then contact specialists.

The prototype has interchangeable tips for the eyes, ears, skin and oral tissue.

Boppart said the device will replace a bevy of small instruments now used by primary physicians, helping to make its $5,000-plus cost relatively affordable.

As the devices proliferate, the cost should come down, he said.

"In the end, I expect the cost of this system will be slightly more than what it replaces, but with significantly more capabilities," Boppart said. "I do expect the cost of this system to continue to fall as more systems are developed and demand increases."

The single tool could revolutionize treatment in smaller hospitals with limited imaging tools.

"This will be a boon for poorer hospitals and Third World or developing countries," Boppart said.

"It is essentially a portable imaging system with digital data that can be sent via cell-phone networks for analysis by experts in larger cities/hospitals."