The specially designed and built lens uses a magnetic levitation based platform and a custom application to perform field testing for Sickle Cell Anaemia using a standard smartphone. (Image credit: Knowlton et al. Scientific Reports)
Testing for sickle cell anaemia may one-day be done in the field thanks to a new smartphone attachment and app. Sickle cell anaemia is a hereditary blood disorder commonly found in individuals of African descent, and can cause organ damage, and increase the risk of stroke and death.
Researchers created an attachment for their smartphones using a 3D printer. This attachment uses a specialized optical lens and the smartphone’s camera to analyse a sample of red blood cells. A custom application used this data from the blood cells to identify sickle cell anaemia.
The developers tested the attachment and app of patients who had been diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia by physicians, and believe further testing is required to ensure a reliable rate of accurate diagnoses.
Original research paper published in Scientific Reports on October 22, 2015.
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