Tricorders

Scientists have developed a small handheld device that can scan for biomarkers to quickly and easily diagnose people with certain diseases and illnesses. Inspired (as always) by Star Trek’s tricorder, the new “multicorder” is designed to help doctors track illness from just about anywhere.

Two teams will compete in the final stage of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, which has seen competitors developing portable medical diagnostic devices inspired by the Star Trek tricorder. Devices from Dynamical Biomarkers Group and Final Frontier Medical Devices will now undergo consumer testing.

It's not quite the tricorder from Star Trek, but researchers responsible for a new wearable patch that can monitor the body's biochemical and electrical signals at the same time say their first-of-its-kind device could be a step in that direction.

We've recently seen a number of projects aimed at creating Star Trek-like medical tricorders, but scientists at the University of Houston are taking a different approach. They want to use smartphones to diagnose diseases.

Scanadu has turned to crowdfunding website Indiegogo to bring what it calls "the first medical tricorder," its Scout diagnostic device, to market.

Researchers at Penn State have developed a new cell-sorting technique, opening the possibility that future medical analytical devices could be scaled-down to a size much smaller than is currently the case.

Med Sensation's Glove Tricorder is outfitted with numerous sensors to detect breast cancer and other internal medical problems when placed on different areas of the body.

A new portable flow cytometer called the Microflow, which offers immediate diagnosis of various health disorders, will be tested on the ISS.

"X-ray" vision may soon be possible on cell phones by tapping into the terahertz band of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Dr Peter Jansen has so far created two prototype Science Tricorders featuring an array of atmospheric, electromagnetic, and spatial sensors, and is now on his way to building a third.

Scientists have developed a new way of creating stronger more efficient Terahertz (THz) or T-rays, which they say could help make handheld devices with tricorder-like capabilities a reality.

Tech start-up Scanadu is developing a real-life version of a Star Trek-style medical tricorder, which would be able to assess a patient's state of health on the spot.