New smartphone reader for quicker infection testing | Tina Hilding

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Dr. "Bones" from Star Trek TV show uses a "tricorder" to diagnose a medical condition. "He's dead, Jim." Dr. "Bones" from the Star Trek TV show uses a "tricorder" to diagnose a medical condition.

April 24, 2018 (Phys.org) -- Washington State University researchers have developed a low-cost, portable laboratory on a phone that works nearly as well as clinical laboratories to detect common viral and bacterial infections.

The work could lead to faster and lower-cost lab results for fast-moving viral and bacterial epidemics, especially in rural or lower-resource regions where laboratory equipment and medical personnel are sometimes not readily available.

Led by Lei Li, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, they have published their work in the journal, Clinica Chimica Acta. Collaboration with Ping Wang, associate professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, enabled the design and implementation of the key clinical validation study.

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