Can a smartphone camera, app, and device detect viruses at low cost?

A team of researchers led by the University of Tokyo’s Yoshihiro Minagawa has developed a mobile-based portable viewing and diagnostic platform for viruses, which may be a breakthrough in diagnostics for rural and underserved global areas. The viewer is about the size of a standard brick and performs the digital enzyme assay using cavities lit with an LED to create light spots detectable by the camera.  The smartphone camera fits on top of a lens on the top of the box. Right now it detects only about 60 percent of what can be detected by a fluoroscopic microscope, but its speed and portability are major assets in these early tests, as well as versatility in possibly detecting other biomarkers. Mobile imaging platform for digital influenza virus counting (Lab On A Chip–Royal Society of Chemistry) Supported by the ImPACT Program of Council for Science, Technology, and Innovation (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan) Also Mobihealthnews APAC.