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Need a microscope for your cell phone? There's an app for that.

Well, it's not as simple as that, but researchers have found that they can create an makeshift microscope that, when attached to their iPhones, can fairly accurate diagnose whether stool samples have evidence of intestinal worms. The method can serve as a low-cost solution to a costly problem - of both intestinal worms and conventional microscopes, which can cost around $200.

According to the Agence France Presse, researchers from Toronto General Hospital in Canada, Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States and the University of Basel in Switzerland cobbled together a field microscope using an iPhone, double-sided tape, a flashlight, some normal laboratory slides and a camera lens that costs $8. Technically, counting the Apple product, the iPhone device is more expensive than the conventional microscope, but it was so chosen because most doctors have smartphones already on hand.

"There's been a lot of tinkering in the lab with mobile phone microscopes, but this is the first time the technology has been used in the field to diagnose intestinal parasites," lead author Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases physician at Toronto General Hospital, said to AFP.

Intestinal worms may not sound like a common problem, but it is - and a deadly one. In fact, an estimated two billion people are infected, and it can often be difficult to diagnose. Sadly, most of the people infected with hookworms and roundworms, which are transmitted through the soil, are children. It is also most troublesome for children to have intestinal worms, as the condition can cause malnutrition, severe anemia and can ultimately block mental and physical development.

The researchers used their cell phone microscope to analyze stool samples from 200 children in a rural area who had already been diagnosed with intestinal worms. According to the BBC, researchers took pictures of the stool samples, attached them to lab slides, wrapped them in cellophane and taped the slides to the phone. Using this method, researchers examined the samples for the presence of eggs, which are the main sign that parasites exist.

Using the cell phones, the researchers were able to accurately spot 70 percent of infections, and 90 percent of the heaviest.

Still, researchers are not resting on their laurels yet. "70% (accuracy) isn't really good enough, we want to be above 80% and we're not quite there yet," Dr. Bogoch said to the BBC.

For those people who are anti-Apple, the researchers say that an Android phone - or any phone with a decent camera and a sufficient zoom - should suffice. They simply used iPhones because those were the ones they had on hand.

If properly treated, doctors can minimize the damage of such worms.

The study was published in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.