The CyScope® fluorescence microscope, a reliable tool for tuberculosis diagnosis in resource-limited settings.

Poor laboratory equipment and few human resources have made it difficult to implement microscopic diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) on a large scale basis worldwide. Three hundred sputum samples from patients in Cameroon were studied by using the CyScope®, a new light-emitting, diode-based, fluorescence microscope, to compare auramine-rhodamine fluorescence with the conventional Ziehl-Neelsen staining method. Five fluorescence protocols were tested to reduce manipulation time.