MIT students are forming companies to explore ways that cell phones can help people in developing nations by diagnosing diseases. Moca, a nonprofit company that is part of the MIT Media Lab's NextLab program, has developed a new open-source software system designed to help these patients. The software will enable patients to transmit their health information, including pictures, to a doctor or nurse in a remote location in order to receive a preliminary diagnosis and to find out whether the condition warrants a trip to the clinic.
