Wow, very cool idea. While obviously this wouldn't be a substitute for lab grade testing, what makes me excited is that it could make sense as something folks produce for themselves as a precursor to getting a proper test done.
That's really interesting. Especially if people can print these out themselves. It would lower the cost of getting test done. And can be used as preventive medical tech, to detect when things are starting to go astray.
I love this idea! What would be the turn-around time? I.e., I sign up, you send me a vial, I send it back, you test it, I get results -- from start to finish, how long do you think it will take?
Idea: a personal blood testing device for use at home (to test for many parameters including vitamin levels).
It would be beneficial to be able to test at least monthly in order to avoid risks associated with various deficiencies, to detect possible diseases early, to monitor relevant parameters while on a diet or exercising etc.. Also, we'd like to keep our results confidential to avoid trouble with insurances and other interested parties.
Labs have large, expensive devices tuned for throughput (e.g. http://www.healthcare.siemens.com/immunoassay/systems/advia-...). They can probably be reduced in size and cost to something comparable with a laser printer. Newer testing methods would work with single drops of blood (e.g. Theranos) so no special skills would be required.
(personal motivation: discovered an extreme Vitamin D3 deficiency, supplements seem to have a dramatic effect)
Ah, I thought you were trying to solve the broader bottleneck of testing which would require approval. But as a hobby just for fun, I suppose you could do anything you want...not sure how useful it would be (would you trust your result? Would health agencies take your result as evidence?)
This sort of technology offers a lot of value for understanding human health in the future.
Right now, we (physicians) discourage people from getting tested outside of guidelines because we don't know what to do with incidental findings. But you could imagine that as a society, we would like to detect and understand these things, rather than just remain ignorant to them.
Inexpensive technology like this could be perfect for performing large-scale studies with repeated sampling of volunteers over time, to gain information that can help the next generation.
It's cheap. And to get a test or four into the hands of (almost) anyone who wants one without red tape seems like a pretty good strategy at the moment even if it's probably not as useful as some people think.
DIY medical testing is only a part of the DIY testing boom.
Just one small example is the amazing array of test strips we have for liquids: Pool test strips, drinking water test strips, urine test strips, blood test strips, drug (urine) test strips, pregnancy (urine) test strips, and much more.
Back during the COVID-19 pandemic, I set up 2 air particle checkers that returned the number of particles they found in each of (maybe 8) sizes. I put them in 2 clear tubes, and duct taped a COVID-19 mask between the tubes. A pair of fans moved air over the first checker, then through the mask, then through the second checker. I proved that below 2.5 microns, none of the COVID-19 masks people were wearing at work did anything. That was when I started laughing at the whole thing. This is the kind of tester I used: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Quality-Detector-Tester-Monit... Checking if the testers read the same without a mask was a simple as taping the tubes together without a mask between them.
The electronic meters we have today is astounding. Digital meters that do not use test strips can measure dozens of gasses, from any explosive gas to O2, CO2, CO, LP (I know it's not a liquid when it's a gas, but they call it LP) and dozens more such gasses. The MQ series is really cool: https://robocraze.com/blogs/post/mq-series-gas-sensor
Note: The web links are not things I put up, and I do not make money off them. I only found them through web searches while knowing what subject matter I wanted to find.
I have this great idea about doing blood assays for all of the common tests out there out of a little pinprick worth of blood from your fingertip. It's exactly what people want to hear today. How about some funding?
I'd picture something like a finger-prick blood sampler akin to a glucose meter.
Might not be something I'd do every day forever, but I could see doing daily samples for a week to get a feel for aboroption, then occasionally to check how my supplements and sun exposure are working.
If you could build a thing that can measure several different parameters depending on which test strips you load into it, I'd buy a pack of vitamin D strips, a pack of vitamin B, a pack of testosterone, and pack that looks for markers of inflammation. Heck yeah. My doctor would eat that data right up.
I would use a service to test food, supplements and prescription drugs (especially generics). I'd be interested in quantity of active ingredients, as well as any contaminants.
Ok, good thinking. Those are all pretty good use cases for a 15 minute test, assuming they can actually achieve that.
Maybe I’m just too sour and frustrated with the whole situation in the USA, and had to vent a little bit, my fault :(
This does actually sound like nice technology where they can pump out test results from this little appliance sized device on site.
Other rapid (result in hours) I’ve read about still require sending specimens to a remote lab. Let’s just hope they can manufacture them like crazy, and quickly get them to the health workers that need them most.
Thanks, I didn't know those existed, it's great...
Actually do you rememeber the twitter thread when someone took apart one of those test (a pregnancy test, I assume they're alike) and then you realised it's basically a small camera doing the work of your eyes on a very cheap paper test ?
https://twitter.com/Foone/status/1301707401024827392
I don't want to use one or two tests like that a month, it would be too much waste. Good news is I suppose is I should be able to get my hand on a paper tests.
It's not a bad idea, but instead of mailing samples across the Atlantic Ocean, I'd rather visit my doctor 2-3 times per year and let him take blood samples. If I wanted to spend more, I could get one to visit me at home.
I was actually looking at buying lab equipment for myself for extra flexibility, but lost interest. It's an interesting and underdeveloped market niche for all the self-tracking people though.
You can already do that, through lef.org, among others. You get a discount on the tests if you pay for a membership with the site, but it doesn't appear to be necessary.
(I'm neither a member, nor a customer, but I stumbled across their site a while back, doing some research about a health issue I ended up not having, anyway...)
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