Kumari Palany & Co

Now, a way to detect cancer using a smartphone

Posted on: 21/Oct/2016 9:42:09 AM
Researchers from the Washington State University have developed a low-cost, portable laboratory on a smartphone that can analyse several samples at once to catch a cancer biomarker, producing lab quality results. The research team created an eight channel smartphone spectrometer that can detect human interleukin-6, or IL-6, a known biomarker for lung, prostate, liver, breast and epithelial cancers.

Speaking about this, the researchers said, A spectrometer analyses the amount and type of chemicals in a sample by measuring the light spectrum. The spectrometer would be especially useful in clinics and hospitals that have a large number of samples without on-site labs, or for doctors who practice abroad or in remote areas. They can’t carry a whole lab with them. They need a portable and efficient device. With our eight channel spectrometer, we can put eight different samples to do the same test, or one sample in eight different wells to do eight different tests. This increases our device’s efficiency. Although the system currently works with an iPhone 5, we are creating an adjustable design that will be compatible with any smartphone.