As we all know by now, smartphone technology is not here only to serve our communication and entertainments needs and whims, but also to make our lives healthier. In the last years, the smartphones became more than just cell phones, but also medical investigators, health monitors and life style enhancers and looking at the recent news, they seem to begin to cover a very wide array of health needs. For instance, people with blood flow issues that need to take on a regular basis anticoagulant medication to keep their blood from clotting will soon have a new smartphone app and accessory that will tell them in a few seconds everything they need to know about their blood circulation’s parameters, only with a touch of the screen.
The new smartphone app that monitors blood flow was developed by a team working at a micro-engineering laboratory within the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and even if the inspiration for this app can be easily (while openly admitted) traced back to the iPad era, the researchers hope their app will improve the lives of millions of people who need to test their blood for coagulation at home on a regular basis.
How does it work?
The technology involves a thin layer of film juxtaposed on the smartphones’ screen (so far testing has been done on a Samsung Galaxy S4 but this doesn’t mean the same tech cannot be applied to other smartphones available). The patient “gives” a drop of blood through capillary action and the app test if there are any troubles going on with their blood flow and potential risks of bleeding.
Does Apple’s Healthbook have anything to fear?
Given the promoted specs and benefits of the Healthbook, one might think that the app covers every possible at – home diagnosis area you can think of, while there is no secret that Apple’s app has a few features which also perform blood tests. However, the researchers from Qloudlab say their test can be used by all types of smartphones soon enough with high levels of accuracy. While this product is said to officially become a commercial good around 2015, nobody mentioned anything about a competition with the Healthbook. In other words, there is always room for a new smartphone healthy app on the market.