Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Doctor in your pocket

Smartphones may be able to diagnose diseases from just a drop of blood or saliva on screen.

  • Mobile phone could diagnose a range of diseases including cancer and diabetes
  • Scientists believe technology could save billions in healthcare costs
    • Mobile phone could diagnose a range of diseases including cancer and diabetes
    • Scientists believe technology could save billions in healthcare costs 
    Breakthrough: South Korean scientists have developed new 
technology which they believe could result in smartphones - such as an 
iPhone - being able to diagnose diseases

  • Mobile phone could diagnose a range of diseases including cancer and diabetes
  • Scientists believe technology could save billions in healthcare costs
  • South Korean scientists Professor Park Hyun-Gyu (left) and researcher Won Byoung-Yeon (right) have developed new technology which they believe could result in smartphones - such as an iPhone - being able to diagnose diseases.
    Excited: Professor Park Hyun-Gyu is one of those working on the new smartphone technology
    Cautious: Researcher Won Byoung-Yeon says more work needs to be done before the technology to diagnose illnesses on smartphones can be perfected



    Incredibly, this could result in instant diagnosis' for illnesses from just a droplet of blood or saliva on a Smartphone's touchscreen. The team believe they are the first to demonstrate that a touchscreen can be used to detect bio-molecules. But researcher Won Byoung-Yeon says more work needs to be done before the technology is perfected.

    And those behind the revolutionary technology say the recognition rate is almost 100 per cent accurate and as effective as conventional medical equipment.
    The technology was developed on the basis of the touchscreen's capacity, called 'capacitive sensitivity', to detect the minute electrical signals generated by a fingertip's touch.

    A team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said when its technology is commercialized, it will revolutionize diagnostic medicine around the world.

    Professor Park Hyun-Gyu says his team's research will enable mobile phones to diagnose a range of diseases from cancer to diabetes. He said biomolecules, like those produced by diseases, transmit similar signals that a touchscreen can recognise.

    Mr Hyun-Gyu said: 'If you have a certain type of DNA or proteins, the touchscreen would react in the same way as a finger's electrical signal is detected.'  

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