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Friday, February 03, 2012

Feeling sick and needing a diagnosis?

Your smartphone and a drop of your blood or saliva could tell you if you're suffering from any particular disease.

South Korean scientists have developed the technology and say the recognition rate is almost 100 per cent accurate and as good as conventional medical equipment.

It's all based on the touchscreen's capacity to detect the minute electrical signals generated by our fingertips - called 'capacitive sensitivity'.

Biomolecules, like those produced by diseases, transmit similar signals that a touchscreen can recognise.

If we have a certain type of DNA or proteins, the touchscreen will react in the same way as a finger's electrical signal is detected.'

Researcher Won Byoung-Yeon says more work needs to be done before the technology is perfected.

"Currently, we've reached the level where we can detect certain biomolecules' existence or concentration, but we can't define what the biomolecule is.

Once that hurdle has been overcome, the team believes the technology could transform diagnostic techniques and one day save billions of healthcare dollars, time and lives.