South African and South Korean researchers are working on making a smartphone capable of doing AIDS tests in rural parts of Africa that are the worst hit by the disease, a researcher said Friday.<\/p>\n
The team have developed a microscope and an application that can photograph and analyse blood samples in areas far from laboratories to diagnose HIV and even measure the health of immune systems.<\/p>\n
“Our idea was to obtain images and analyse images on this smartphone using applications,” said Jung Kyung Kim, a professor in biomedical engineering at Kookmin University in South Korea.<\/p>\n
The gadget, called Smartscope, is a small 1-millimeter (0.04-inch) microscope and light which clips over a smartphone’s camera.<\/p>\n
A standard chip with a blood sample then slides into the gadget in front of the microscope. Next, a special phone programme photographs the sample and analyses the cells.<\/p>\n
The team hopes that trials in clinics may start next year, Kim told AFP.<\/p>\n
A different prototype developed in the United States takes tests in the field that need to be sent to a computer for analysis.<\/p>\n
But the Smartscope will itself be able to do a CD4 cell count — a measure of white blood cells, which determines when treatment starts.<\/p>\n
“Its basic function is to count those CD4 cells for diagnosis,” said Kim.<\/p>\n
The new technology is destined for AIDS treatment in remote communities in South Africa and Swaziland, where clinics often don’t have the technology to do these tests effectively.<\/p>\n
Almost six million South Africans are infected with HIV, while a quarter of Swazi adults carry the virus.<\/p>\n
“In community health mobile technology is not a gimmick. It becomes an essential part of access,” said Professor Jannie Hugo, who heads the family medicine department at the University of Pretoria, the partner in the study.<\/p>\n
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