Smartphone-enabled vaccine checks

Marcus Lovell Smith, CEO of Diagnostics For All, said: “We needed a low-cost and portable device that could be used in conjunction with our assay to test immunisation in children. The ability to quickly and inexpensively test if a child has already been vaccinated will conserve resources and save many lives in countries around the world. The test is as simple as watching a spot on a postage-stamp-sized piece of paper change colour. By working with Cambridge Consultants, we were quickly able to demonstrate a simple and reliable method to analyse the results and transmit them using a mobile phone.”

David Chastain, programme manager at Cambridge Consultants, said: “The application of a smartphone to interpret and record this established low-cost diagnostic technology is ideal for developing countries, where mobile devices can transform healthcare delivery at the point of care. The goal of this project is to facilitate medical support in remote areas where there may be little or no access to medical facilities or trained doctors and nurses to administer the tests.”

Cambridge Consultants’ world-class engineering teams in Cambridge (UK), Boston (USA) and Singapore design and develop cutting-edge medical devices and technologies for the world’s leading companies and innovative start-ups. The product development firm has a 50-year track record of helping clients get breakthrough products to market fast – from the creation of concepts through to commercialisation. Its work includes diagnostic, surgical and drug delivery devices as well as digital health technologies.

Diagnostics For All is a non-profit company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, creating innovative low-cost diagnostic solutions.

Cambridge Consultants will be demonstrating this latest diagnostic technology at the mHealth Summit, December 9-11, in Washington DC, USA, stand 918 – and at the 2014 International CES, January 7-10, in the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall 2, booth 26315.