Smartphone Attachment Can Test For HIV In 15 Minutes

stephendavion writes A team of researchers from Columbia University have developed a device that can be plugged into a smartphone and used to quickly test for HIV and syphilis. The mobile device tests for three infectious disease markers in just 15 minutes by using a finger-prick of blood, and draws all the power it needs from the smartphone, Science Daily reports. The accessory costs an estimated $34 to make and is capable of replicating tests done in a laboratory using equipment that costs many thousands of dollars.

Comments

Better Story Link

[Fnord666]

Here is a link to the original article cited by the Times that contains more detail.

Re:Target audience?

[masterofthumbs]

I'm guessing the target audience is medical workers in poorer countries with limited access to labratory equipment to test for these diseases. The local doctor can come to the village with their smartphone, this device, and a bunch of clean needles for it. The more mobile and cheaper medical equipment can be, the easier it is to care for people. This doesn't address the idea of safe sex though, its just a piece of test equipment.

Re:Sex tourist's dream...

[Noah Haders]

if an HIV test helps you decide whether or not to wear a cover, then you're one risky mofo.

Re:Get your own

[bmo]

"Pricking yourself with something that an infected person used is a sure-fire way to get an infection.

It's as if you don't even know how diabetic test strips, and other test strips like this one, work, or even that lancets of all kinds are disposable.

If you RTFA and click through to the Science Daily article, you'd read this:

"During the field testing in Rwanda, health care workers were given 30 minutes of training, which included a user-friendly interface to aid the user through each test, step-by-step pictorial directions, built-in timers to alert the user to next steps, and records of test results for later review. The vast majority of patients (97%) said they would recommend the dongle because of its fast turn-around time, ability to offer results for multiple diseases, and simplicity of procedure."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...

That is fucking spectacular.

Shut the fuck up.

--
BMO

Re:Get your own

[masterofthumbs]

The device has replacable cassettes that contain the reagents for the testing. To develop a device like this only to have it capable of spreading infection would be an incredibly stupid oversight.

Re:Better hurry up and buy that patent

[ArcadeMan]

... in the U.S.A. but about 70$ in Canada.

Re:Get your own

[morgauxo]

Hey, no worries, this is Slashdot!

Give him a couple more years sitting on his couch-bed in his mother's basement drinking Mountain Dew and eating chips while playing video games and troling Slashdot.

He WILL know all about lancets! Or be dead. One or the other.

Accuracy

[The Raven]

What's the false positive and false negative rates of this cheap test, vs the normal one? While it's probably better to have a mediocre test rather than none at all, there are times when that's not true... high false positive rates for rare conditions can waste resources on healthy individuals. High false negative rates for common conditions can give patients a false sense of safety.

The specificity of the test matters a lot before you can judge its utility.