Mobile phones that can test for HIV, malaria and more

Sindya Bhanoo — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:02:17 -0500

Researchers at UCLA are trying to turn the ubiquitous mobile phone into a device that can run medical tests.

Aydogan Ozcan, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at UCLA, has developed a prototype for a lens-free device, small enough to fit into a cell phone, that can count cell types in a cell solution. By counting cell types, the device can determine whether a patient might have HIV, malaria or other medical conditions.

It is not a replacement for a laboratory test that runs blood samples through an actual microscope, but it's a great first step. While microscopes produce detailed images, the lens-free device produces grainy, pixelated images, an article in Medical News Today explained.

The lens-free technique Ozcan is using is called LUCAS, or Lensless Ultra-wide-field Cell monitoring Array. A LUCAS cell phone can use a short wavelength blue light to illuminate a blood sample and capture an image. It then compares the image to a library of images to make a preliminary diagnosis about a medical condition, says the article.

Ozcan pictures a world where people will be able to draw a tiny blood simple, place it on a chip the size of a quarter and insert it into a LUCAS-equipped cell phone. The phone would then be able to count cells and wirelessly send the results to a hospital.

The researchers believe that it will be particularly useful in developing countries, where the nearest hospital might be far away and difficult to reach.

"This...imaging platform may have a significant impact, especially for medical diagnostic applications related to global health problems such as HIV or malaria monitoring," Ozcan said in a UCLA press release.