With the technological advances that we are living lately and with that the smart mobile phone (or smartphone) has entered our lives through the big door and to stay a long time, it seemed logical that sooner or later we could use it to analyze our own fluids bodily
I mean blood, urine, saliva, sweat and even breath. And being so, it is clear that one of the applications that are sure to be used the most will be to look at the urine with the intention of knowing if there is a positive pregnancy or not. That is soon it will be possible to do a pregnancy test with a mobile.
A sensor that will be coupled to the mobile phone
To make this possible the smartphone must integrate a sensor that makes this analysis possible. Through an optical phenomenon known as surface plasmon resonance (SPR), the mobile will generate a beam of light that will provide information about the liquid on which it hits the chamber. This information will be analyzed by a phone application that will give the results instantly.
This technological advance has been published in the Optics Express magazine, and as they say they have managed to do it of a size that can be implemented in the back of the mobile (rear but internal) or as part of a small low-cost medical device ... something as well as a little machine to do fluid analysis. In this photo, although quite small, it can be seen a prototype attached to the back of a mobile (The question is where will be that kind of bottle cap where the liquid is applied ... I understand that a spice will be created to put a drop of the fluid to be analyzed).
The case is that the applications of said invention are multiple. On the one hand, there is the power to be done a pregnancy test at any time, but on the other hand is being able to analyze a drop of blood to monitor glucose levels, which would be an ideal application for diabetics who have to be monitored often.
If you can also analyze the breath, it could perhaps (it is a conjecture of mine) also be applied to the corridors, because one of the tests that are done when they make an effort is to measure the gases they emit to know how much oxygen they consume and when carbon dioxide delete (although I imagine that in this case you can only calculate the deleted). It may also be possible (another conjecture) to analyze other urine parameters, such as seeing if there could be a possible infection.
Will we really see it soon?
Technology exists, as we have just seen, and the applicability seems valid and interesting enough to have people interested in it (and phone manufacturers). As they comment, it is as reliable as much larger devices with the same function, and the cost seems not to be too high (they don't comment, but they talked about a medical device low cost).
It is impossible to know if we will really see it soon, but I bet that in the same way that many mobile phones can measure our pulse by putting their finger on the flash, many will integrate this technology. It may not be something to be part of the typical high-end phones, the so-called flagship of each brand, but it could be for the public that is specifically interested in something like that, that is, a mid-range phone version, for example, that includes the sensor. Something like the "Samsung Galaxy Health" or the "iPhone 7C Health."
