In developing countries where deadly diseases such as HIV are common and sophisticated testing centres and laboratories are scarce, this brand new tool is going to revolutionize diagnostics. Columbia researchers have studied the science of microfluidics to create a small, inexpensive but accurate diagnostic tool that can detect all sorts of deadly diseases without the need for complicated or expensive lab equipment.

Dubbed the mChip, this device is only the size of a credit card and requires nothing but a tiny drop of blood in order to detect a lethal disease such as HIV. What’s even better is that the device only costs approximately $1 to produce. Traditional tests for HIV require trained personnel to draw blood and utilize expensive lab equipment, requiring much more time and resources than the mChip’s 15 minute turnaround time.

In a recent study testing the accuracy of the device, researchers found that the mChip detected 100% of HIV and Syphilis cases from the study. With a device such as the mChip, developing country patients don’t have to worry about traveling far distances to hospitals and returning later for results. This advancement in detection technology could prove to be a major step forward in the treatment of deadly diseases in both underdeveloped and developed countries.

SOURCE via Gajitz