As Apple unveils its iOS 8 HealthKit app designed to help users keep better track of their personal health data, other breakthrough healthcare smartphone technologies are also in development. A Tel Aviv company, mobileOCT, is developing a 3D printable add-on for smartphones to enable the user to literally scan for cancer. Using a technology called Optical Coherent Tomography the device enables the user to scan for cancer at home.
Ariel Beery, mobileOCT’s CEO has said: ’The aim is to enable anyone with a smartphone to be able to save their lives and the lives of the people that they love.’
The smartphone’s camera is used to image suspect areas and also even the blood supply to that area – the latter by adding a green light to the kit. The images are assessed by the device’s operator and are then uploaded for review by a professional. This may speed the recognition that medical assistance is required. The case of the add-on is 3D printed meaning that no shipping is required for the parts and much of the device can be constructed by the user at home.
Beery told the BBC: ’What we want to be able to do is to enable anyone anywhere in the world to be able to 3D print their own devices, and in doing so to screen the people that they would like to save their lives.’
The fantastic handheld device, which can analyse potential tumors will be just £240 ($400).
