Smartphones to become pocket doctors after scientists discover camera flash and microphone can be used to diagnose illness

Smartphones to become pocket doctors after scientists discover camera flash and microphone can be used to diagnose illness Smartphones will soon become mobile laboratories which can monitor bone density, calculate red blood cell levels and even predict if an asthma attack is imminent. Scientists are repurposing the technology which already exists within phones, such as accelerometers, camera flashes and microphones to use as medical tools. Professor Shwetak Patel, of the University of Washington is currently devising an app which can detect red blood cell levels simply by placing a finger over the camera and flash, so that a bright beam of light shines through the skin. Such a blood screening tool could quickly spot anaemia. He also believes that in future users will be able to bang phones against their bones to check for osteoporosis and use the microphone to test lung function. Read more at http://ift.tt/2lVjfyc