Smartphone diagnostics

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.

An app designed to detect early signs of several eye diseases has surpassed an 80 percent accuracy rate, equaling the sensitivity of devices used by trained ophthalmologists.

A new smartphone-based system has been designed to analyze the shape of infants' craniums.

Scientists have developed a smartphone-based system that detects even small concentrations of norovirus instantly, on the spot.

A new technology, called transdermal optical imaging, can turn your smartphone into a device that can measure your blood pressure by analyzing a short video of your face. The University of Toronto-led research has demonstrated the system is 95 percent accurate and an app is already in development.

In order to see how many viruses are present in a patient's biological fluid sample, costly devices such as fluorescence microscopes are typically used – not a good solution for developing nations. That's why scientists have developed an inexpensive smartphone-connected gadget that does the job.

​As crop plants "breathe" through the pores in their leaves, they release an assortment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. A new smartphone-connected device analyzes those chemicals within a matter of minutes, detecting and identifying any diseases that may be indicated.

​In remote communities, a family doctor may or may not be present, but an ophthalmologist likely isn't. That's why Brazilian startup Phelcom Technologies created the Eyer, a smartphone-connected device that allows patients' retinal-scan images to be analyzed by ophthalmologists via the internet.

​If your child has a persistent cough, it goes without saying that you should check to see if it's anything serious. Taking them to the doctor is the best bet, but an experimental new cough-analyzing smartphone app could help in situations where that isn't possible.

​When McGill University's Dr. Sheila Wang was in medical school, she noticed that doctors simply used rulers to measure patients' diabetic skin ulcers. Figuring that there had to be a more precise, objective method of doing so, she went on to create the new Swift Skin and Wound app.

​Typically, if women want to know if they're ovulating, they have to perform a urine test or a basal body temperature analysis. Scientists at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital are developing what they believe may be a better alternative, in the form of a smartphone-based saliva test.

Currently, the most accurate method of checking for anemia is to draw a blood sample and conduct a count of a patient's red blood cells, which contain iron-rich hemoglobin. Soon, however, a smartphone app may be able to non-invasively do the same job.