It’s now possible to use a USB stick to measure the levels of HIV in a patient’s blood. The device has a 95 percent accuracy rate and takes less than 30 minutes, which is a big improvement over current tests.
Patients usually need to send fluids to a lab to test their HIV levels. Depending on the specific test, it can take days or weeks to get results. In a study published this week in Scientific Reports, researchers from both Imperial College London and tech company DNA Electronics created a tiny device that does the same thing.
It works like this: you put a drop of blood on the USB stick. This changes the acidity levels of the metal in the USB. A chip inside the USB notes the change in acidity and turns this into an electrical signal....
via The Verge
