The smartphone will measure the concentration of cholesterol in the blood
You can now track the cholesterol level yourself
ChemPort.Ru based on materials from Chemistry World: DIY cholesterol monitoringA group of researchers from the USA has developed a fairly simple system that will allow people to determine the cholesterol content in their blood at home using a smartphone.
Cholesterol is an important organic molecule of organic origin. It provides stability and permeability of cell membranes in a wide temperature range. It is necessary for the production of vitamin D, the production of various steroid hormones by the adrenal glands.
However, high cholesterol in the blood can be a big health problem – it is believed that excess cholesterol in the blood is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases. People who are at risk for cardiovascular diseases (however, as well as healthy ones) need to control the cholesterol content in the blood, regulating nutrition in such a way as to consume less animal fats, from time to time passing tests for cholesterol, as well as lipoproteins containing it – LDL and HDL.
Undoubtedly, an analytical system that would allow ordinary people to carry out routine operations on the cholesterol content in their blood using a simple, familiar device would be very useful.
David Erickson from Cornell University in New York has developed a device offering just such a solution. The system developed by him consists of a small auxiliary device-an accessory that is attached to a smartphone, a smartphone application and commercially available indicator strips, with which colorimetric determination of cholesterol in the blood is carried out in laboratory conditions. The system works as follows – a drop of blood is placed on the indicator strip, resulting in an enzymatic color reaction. Then a strip with a changed color is placed in a nozzle on a smartphone and photographed using the camera of a mobile device. Then the application performs quantitative image processing, determines the color parameters of the indicator paper and determines the cholesterol content in the blood.
Screenshot of the smartphone application (left) and the algorithm for processing photos of indicator papers (right).
Despite the external simplicity, the results of the work of Erickson and his colleagues cannot be underestimated – the development of a system that is accurate, reliable and gives reproducible diagnostic measurements based on a conventional smartphone is not an easy task. The difficulties associated with solving this problem are related to the difference in illumination, insufficiently unified reaction time, different types of cameras of different smartphone models, and many other factors.
The researchers solved the problem of illumination by developing a nozzle that provides uniform illumination of the indicator strip with a smartphone flash, a number of other factors are taken into account in the calculation algorithm that underlies the application.
As noted by Aydogan Ozcan, a specialist in rapid diagnostic systems from the University of California (Los Angeles), the new work is another excellent demonstration of touch devices based on smartphones. Ozkan himself has developed a large number of sensor systems based on the use of modern gadgets and therefore can competently evaluate the results of work.
Erickson and co-authors are currently planning to commercialize the new system, hoping that it will be available to the general public in the near future.
Article by Oncescu et al. Cholesterol testing on a smartphone is published in the journal Lab on a Chip.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru18.12.2013