Smartphone cradle, app detect toxins, bacteria
Using smartphone cradle and app, researchers develop handheld biosensor to detect toxins
Kenny Long, a graduate researcher studying engineering and medicine at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign works with a handheld biosensor based on an iPhone, is shown in this June 21, 2013 photo in Urbana, Ill. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
·Associated PressURBANA, Ill. (AP) -- Afraid there may be peanuts or other allergens hiding in that cookie? Thanks to a cradle and app that turn your smartphone into a handheld biosensor, you may soon be able to run on-the-spot tests for food safety, environmental toxins, medical diagnostics and more.
The handheld biosensor was developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A series of lenses and filters in the cradle mirror those found in larger, more expensive laboratory devices. Together, the cradle and app transform a smartphone into a tool that can detect toxins and bacteria, spot water contamination and identify allergens in food.
Kenny Long, a graduate researcher at the university, says the team was able to make the smartphone even smarter with modifications to the cellphone camera.
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See the video here: http://bit.ly/18TEsfJ
