Cue: Home Health Diagnostics

Technologies are developing very rapidly now, and almost every day there are new projects that five years ago would have been considered a distant future. An example is the Cue Home Laboratory Medical Project .

And such a laboratory is only slightly larger in size than a smartphone, where, by the way, all received medical data is transmitted. At the same time, the functionality of the "laboratory" is quite decent: with its help, you can diagnose a lot, from the influenza virus and vitamin D levels, to pregnancy.

As a sample, various fluids from one's own body are used. Well, you know what they usually take to medical laboratories.

Cue is an idea that belongs to a team of two people - Ayub Khattak (biochemistry and mathematics) and Clint North (industrial design). Five years ago, Ayub Khattak worked on a project of “genetic barcodes” for plants, and then he had the idea of ​​the possibility of creating a miniature virus tester in the human body.

After Ayub Khattak shared his idea with Clint North, the idea arose to create a home diagnostic device. The basis was taken as a glucose tester in the body, which was converted into a rather complex device with interchangeable cartridges, where fluids from the human body are placed. Of course, some modules were added, and the result was a device capable of conducting five different tests.



The prototype is able to determine the level of testosterone, vitamin D, the presence of influenza virus, and even the presence of HIV. In addition, the device can determine the level of fertility (fertility).

After analysis, Cue sends data to a paired smartphone application via Bluetooth 4.0. The application monitors the interaction of the user's activity level with the diet and sleep parameters, and also analyzes the parameters of the body at the molecular level.

The time it takes for the device to perform an analysis is usually less than the time it takes to conduct the same analysis in a conventional laboratory. For example, determining vitamin D levels in just 10 minutes. It also takes a few minutes to determine if you have the flu virus.



As for the price of the device, then, according to the plan, it will be 199 US dollars. Cartridges every time you need to buy new ones. A set of five costs $ 20. If you need three identical cartridges, for example, those that work with the flu virus, it will cost $ 30 for 3 pieces. You can pre-order either from the manufacturer or from Medgadgets .



Of course, this is not the first project to create a mini-diagnostic center. So, QuantuMDx- A project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This is a Cue-like mini lab, capable of detecting malaria, HIV, tuberculosis and some other diseases, in just 15 minutes. Cartridges are also used here. But QuantuMDx will not be available for sale, it is a device that will be delivered to countries where there is either no medicine, or it is in very poor condition (some countries in Africa, etc.).



As for Cue, unfortunately, the developers do not provide much technical information (although they can be understood), and so far it is not possible to understand how accurate the diagnostics made using such a device can be.



Nevertheless, soon all this can be found out - the first devices will be shipped to testers already at the beginning of next year.