Microfluidic

It's important to maintain proper chlorine levels in a pool, as too much can cause skin and eye irritation, and too little won't kill bacteria. A new device could help, by cheaply and automatically checking a pool's pH and chlorine content.

In people with liver disease or other metabolic disorders, blood ammonia levels can quickly climb to dangerous levels. And unfortunately, checking those levels is not a fast and easy process. A newly developed device, however, could change that.

Human blood can typically only be stored for six weeks. It also needs to be refrigerated, which may be challenging in poor countries or remote locations. A new study, though, could lead to a method of drying blood for long-term storage.

Currently, in order to determine if someone has a urinary tract infection, their urine sample has to be sent off to a lab – it takes days to get results. Now, scientists have created a smartphone-enabled system that works in less than 25 minutes.

Diagnosing asthma in small children is often challenging, as standard measures such as lung function tests can't be used below a certain age. A new blood-analysis device could help, however, delivering definitive results in less than two hours.

Microfluidic chips are typically made out of plastic, but scientists are now taking a more eco-friendly approach, using wood.

New MIT and Harvard research shows how versatile CRISPR is, putting the genetic scissors to work in diagnostic tools and timed drug delivery systems.

​Sepsis occurs when the body's immune system releases chemicals to fight an infection, triggering widespread inflammation. If not treated soon enough, organ failure and even death can ultimately result. A new device, however, could detect it earlier than ever.

The placenta may be one of the least understood organs, but it’s important to study its effects on the health of a developing fetus. Researchers at Iowa State University have used microfluidic models of the organ, a placenta-on-a-chip, to see if, and how much, caffeine can cross from mother to baby.

​It was just a couple of months ago that L'Oréal announced My Skin Track UV, a wearable battery-free device that measures its user's ultraviolet light exposure. Well, the company has now unveiled My Skin Track pH, a wearable that monitors the pH levels of its user's skin.

​Ordinarily, it takes two to five days to determine if harmful bacteria are present in a patient's biological samples. Within that time, any infection that's present could get much worse. A newly-developed biosensor, however, is capable of analyzing samples on the spot.

This design for a smart wristband from engineers at Rutgers University promises a new generation of wearable health and environment trackers. The prototype device can wirelessly connect to a smartphone that then processes and displays a broad assortment of biomarkers including blood cell counts.