Mobile Phone Mod Provides Cheap Disease Detection

[Terry Olaes]

Scientists at UCLA have modded a mobile phone, enabling it to be an ultraportable and cheap blood tester capable of detecting blood-borne diseases like malaria or HIV. Follow the jump for details and pics.

UCLA researcher Dr. Aydogan Ozcan images thousands of blood cells instantly by placing them on an off-the-shelf camera sensor and lighting them with a filtered-light source (coherent light, for you science buffs). The filtered light exposes distinctive qualities of the cells, which are then interpreted by Ozcan's custom software.

 

[THRESHIN]

that would take the guess work of picking up a hooker! i want one!

 

[The_Shadow]

Tricorder

 

[Turbo Mach 5]

<joke> So can it detect medicloreans? </joke>
(By the way: If I misspelled it then I am sorry.)

But still, very cool.

 

[Vola]

Tricorder

you beat me to it

 

[SelousSizzle]

I hear this is already standard features on the upcoming Iphone gen. 3, which also notifies everyone on your friends list about positive tests.

 

[Nemesis999]

I hear this is already standard features on the upcoming Iphone gen. 3, which also notifies everyone on your friends list about positive tests.

Rumour has it they'll be including a stripped down (Those pesky options are too complicated) version on the iPhone store for $49.99. Then they'll patent disease detection, use of phones for medical purposes, combining blood and technology, electricity, wireless communication, and shitty phones, and proceed to sue anyone that attempt to produce anything that uses the technologies, or any other technology that they can get pattened before the inventor can.