Dr. Eugene Chan and colleagues at the DNA Medical Institute have won the Nokia XPrize for rHEALTH — a portable handheld device that can diagnose hundreds of diseases using a single drop of blood. Flu, pneumonia or even Ebola can be detected in a few minutes.
A vital sign patch monitors EKG, heart rate, body temperature — delivered to one’s smartphone or the rHEALTH device via Bluetooth. An app called CHAS walks the user through the process of self-diagnosis.
By significantly shrinking its components compared to traditional devices, patients will need to give 1,500 times less blood than they would for regular tests.