Two Korean Researchers- Hyun Gyu Park and Byoung Yeon Won from the Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology in Daejeon, South Korea, are making a bold statement about the capabilities of the touchscreens in smartphones. While the idea of using smartphones as diagnostic tools through peripheral devices is not new, these researchers propose that the touchscreens themselves are capable of detecting extremely small differences in capacitance, which could be leveraged to diagnose diseases from the flu to salmonella.
They believe that a biosample – sputum, saliva, blood, or even urine – can be placed on the screen of a smartphone for analysis. This analysis will, however, highly depend on the ability to correlate differences in the sample with something clinically relevant.
Paul Marks of New Scientist explains, “The idea depends on a method the pair have devised to harness the way a touchscreen senses a fingertip’s ability to store electric charge – known as its capacitance. The capacitive sensitivity of touchscreens is far higher than what is needed to sense our fingers as we play games or tap out tweets. So the pair began proof-of-concept tests to see if the touchscreens in our pockets could play a role in diagnosing our ailments. First they took three solutions containing differing concentrations of DNA from the bacteria that causes chlamydia and applied droplets from each to an iPhone-sized multitouch display. They found that the output from the screen’s array of crisscrossed touch-sensing electrodes could distinguish between the capacitances caused by each concentration using droplets of only 10 microlitres (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, DOI: 10.1002/anie201105986).”
This idea does not come without challenges. There are issues of interference from moisture in the atmosphere, sweat and residue on the screen. Additionally, there may be some hesitance in patients to apply biosamples to their precious smartphones.
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