Cell Phone Hack Analyzes Blood

Posted by Miss Cellania in Gadget, Medicine on December 21, 2008 at 6:53 am


A modified cell phone could allow doctors to analyze blood samples for HIV, malaria, and other diseases in remote villages where costly lab equipment and the power to run them are unavailable! The device is called a LUCAS imager (Lensfree Ultrawide-field Cell-monitoring Array platform based on Shadow imaging).

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. By analyzing the cell types present in a much larger sample, a more accurate diagnosis can be made in a matter of minutes. No more sending blood away to a lab and waiting days or weeks for the results.

Ozcan is seeking a manufacture so these devices can be mass-produced. Link -Thanks, Dave Bullock!


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COMMENT

6 comments to "Cell Phone Hack Analyzes Blood"

  1. ChrisW
    December 21st, 2008 at 9:26 am

    Filtered LED light would not be coherent. A LASER diode would be needed for coherent light.

  2. mother theresa
    December 21st, 2008 at 10:09 am

    The device may be able to image CD4 vs. CD8 lymphs to get a ratio that will monitor therapy for HIV+ patients but it wouldn't diagnose the disease. That requires more sophisticated tech. A lot of hand-held devices are great for giving ballpark lab values but these devices are only calibrated once at the factory and rarely QC'd plus their linearities are limited. The $200k instrument at the lab is still a surer bet than the $200 handheld model.

  3. Edward
    December 21st, 2008 at 10:40 am

    I went to the comments expecting to see something like, "Big Pharma wants AIDS in Africa!" Instead there are two rational comments. Bravo!

  4. sw
    December 21st, 2008 at 12:28 pm

    that is fantastic. i hope it takes off, and works.

  5. Ali S.
    December 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    Well, this is certainly a great way to create cheaper and more widely available methods to diagnose blood samples in undeveloped nations.

  6. Scooter
    December 22nd, 2008 at 5:47 pm

    Edward. I would assume that the crazies are all "war on Christmas" and such.


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