A new test will soon enable STDs to be diagnosed via mobile phone or computer, a move that health experts hope will slow the rising rate of infection among young people
Mobile phones and computers will soon be able to diagnose sexually transmitted diseases under innovative plans to cut the UK’s rising rate of herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhoea among young people. Doctors and technology experts are developing small devices, similar to pregnancy testing kits, that will tell someone quickly and privately if they have caught an infection through sexual contact.
People who suspect they have been infected will be able to put urine or saliva on to a computer chip about the size of a USB chip, plug it into their phone or computer and receive a diagnosis within minutes, telling them which, if any, sexually transmitted infection (STI) they have. Seven funders, including the Medical Research Council, have put £4m into developing the technology via a forum called the UK Clinical Research Collaboration. The self-testing devices are aimed at technology-savvy young people.
. Public health experts are concerned that, although most STIs occur among that age group, many are too embarrassed to visit a GP or a genito-urinary medicine clinic to get tested and therefore continue to suffer and potentially pass the disease on. Doctors hope that the ability to obtain a private, confidential diagnosis will overcome their widespread reluctance to take a test.
The developers of the rapid testing devices expect them to be sold for as little as 50p or £1 each in vending machines in nightclubs, pharmacies and in supermarkets, as condoms are. They are drawing on nanotechnology and microfluidics, the creation of miniaturised laboratories.
Hey man, can I um, borrow your iPhone for a sec?
When your health care system is ruined as in UK you must devise such new methods. Fact that issue of concern may not be STD but some other serious problem will not be discovered by automated idiocy. But this will give public fake trust that health can be kept on cheap.
Using cellphones sensors as means to read cholesterol levels, blood sugars and things like STD’s make sense and in fact have been demonstrated.
With transistor feature sizes in the nanometer range, this will eventually be commonplace. In fact, using cellphones as means to detect airborne terrorist attacks will be crucial.
Congratulations to the democrat and liberal scientists that invented this. Shame on the “Can’t Do” republicans (as in #1) for stifling innovation.
1 – you probably don’t have any real experience with the NHS then.
Reminds of using the “bit” Program on my android for making big decisions. It only answers yes/no questions though. he’s pretty accurate about half the time.
Waiting for that on the iPhone app store.
“innovative plans to cut the UK’s rising rate of [STDs]”
I thought the UK’s dental plan was supposed to do that…
What Dallas said.
Cost is 50p? HA!
That’s very smart
I see lawsuits in their future. People will use this as a pretest for unprotected sex, still catch something, and blame it on the manufacturer.
Would the device be able to detect STD’s in persons not recently infected? For example, it’s my understanding that even health clinics have difficulty diagnosing Herpes if it is not in an active stage. If the STD is not in a flare up will the device be able to still detect the presence?
I think this is an amazing achievement!!
ryan