Weird, Weirder, Weirdest? Worried and Shy about getting yourself checked? Soon you might be able to pee on a sensor on your mobile phone and find out the answer! Technology experts, Researchers and Doctors at St. George’s University of London are working on a way to be able to test for STDs in a person by using their mobile phones. The research was taken up citing increasing rates of STDs in Britain which recorded 482,696 new cases of sexually transmitted infection which was 12,000 more than in 2008.
Doctors said that such a device can help not just Britain but all across the world including America which saw a huge jump in its cases. Researchers are now working on a STD testing technology which will make it easier and hassle free to get tested in one’s own privacy.
The system is pretty simple. A person who wishes to get tested pusts a urine or saliva sample on a computer chip which is about the size of a USB device. The chip is inserted into the phone. The chicp which is a microfluidic device would analyze for signs of any disease-related microorganisms and give the person the diagnosis information.
Tariq Sadiq, a senior lecturer leading the project and consultant physician told the Guardian, “Your mobile phone can be your mobile doctor. It diagnoses whether you’ve got one of a range of STIs, such as chlamydia or gonorrhea and tells you where to go next to get treatment”.
If this were ever made available, it would surely benefit a lot of people. But we would also see many broken phones from unhappy patients!
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