Submitted by unsettling economics

“Dr Nguyen Phuoc Huy said his hospital could never afford to buy one as the endoscope costs around $30,000. Instead he spent two years developing a DIY endoscope to peer inside the bodies of patients without the need for surgery.”

“The adaptor costs almost nothing because it is simply a system of lens linked to a webcam costing just about $30. “In total I had to buy only the scope, which is about $800 …. A Pentium 4 computer with a colour printer is all that is needed for image processing …. I can now make a complete endoscope system in just one week”.”

Le, Hai. 2005. “Vietnam Medic Makes DIY Endoscope.” BBC News (22 August).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4145984.stm

OK, it is a couple of years old, but still worth noting.

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