Laboratory in your pocket
iPhone taught to do a urine test
uChek is developed by the Mumbai (India)-based company Biosense Technologies, specializing in the creation of affordable medical technologies and devices. In order to use uChek, it is necessary, as usual, to collect a urine sample in a container and immerse a standard test strip in it for two seconds. Then the urine-soaked test strip should be rolled on a special mat that removes color distortions, launch the application, point the phone camera at the strip and the communicator reads information from it. Test strips and a mat are included in the set supplied with uChek.
uChek determines about eight to ten parameters of urine - the level of sugar, protein, ketone bodies, bilirubin, leukocytes and others – and interprets the results, allowing you to identify symptoms of 25 diseases, including diabetes, urinary tract infections, preeclampsia, kidney disease, liver and oncology. In addition, the application provides general information about the user's health status.
"The idea was to bring people closer to information about themselves," explained uChek author, Biosense Technologies co–founder, Myshkin Ingawale, a 29-year-old graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "I want people to have a better understanding of what's going on inside their own bodies."
Already at the end of March, the application will be available for purchase in Apple's online store - the App Store – for $ 20. Now uChek is available only for iPhone users, but soon, Ingavale promises, a version for Android and other platforms will appear. He believes that uChek will be especially in demand in regions where access to medical care is difficult, in rural areas and in developing countries, as smartphones are becoming cheaper and more accessible.
uChek is currently undergoing testing in Mumbai, at King Edward Memorial Hospital. "If the application works properly, we will be able to use it in clinics on wheels. Instead of buying a device for 10 thousand dollars, doctors will be able to use their smartphones," Ingavale quotes the BBC.
At last year's TED conference, Ingavale presented a portable ToucHb device that allows for a non-invasive rapid test for hemoglobin levels in the blood.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru01.03.2013