Selfie-diagnosis

Love it or hate it, the selfie is a widespread Internet phenomenon that has captured the attention of the media, as well as that of the academe, having been named 2013 Word of the Year of the Oxford English Dictionary. A practice of countless celebrities like Kim Kardashian, politicians like President Barack Obama, and ordinary people alike, the selfie has spawned many a debate regarding its social implications (such as whether it promotes Feminism or undermines it), artistic significance, and even the definition of the word itself. However, for all the cultural import that it has accumulated in the past year or so, the selfie seldom—if at all—receives any emphasis in the light of hard science and technology.

This may change with the advent of a new mobile phone application that uses the phone’s built-in camera to check a person’s cholesterol level. The Smartphone Cholesterol Application for Rapid Diagnostics, or “smartCARD” for short, “optically detects biomarkers in a drop of blood, sweat or saliva” then uses optical analysis to determine the results. The accompanying accessory resembles a smartphone credit card reader and is clamped over the phone camera. A sample is placed on the test strip fitted onto the smartCARD reader to take a photo; the camera flash evenly illuminates the test strip, enabling the software application on the phone to analyze the sample and produce results based on the color values of the image. The test currently measures total cholesterol, but the Cornell engineers who developed it are working on adding functions that indicate measurements of LDL (“bad” cholesterol), HDL (“good” cholesterol), and triglicerydes—as well as applications for detecting other conditions.

This may not sound like the typical selfie that most of us are familiar with, but it is no doubt a selfie that we can all benefit from taking. According to statistics cited by Dr. David Erickson, who was part of the team that created the application, in 2016 there will be an estimated 260 million smartphones being used in the US alone. Dr. Erickson believes that the increasingly ubiquitous and sophisticated smartphone technology can replace specialized equipment in addressing health issues.

This is good news for the growing populations of smartphone users in the world who may not have the means to consult with doctors or get tested in hospitals. Though the trickling of technological advancements down to the masses does not indicate well-distributed economic progress, that scientists have developed a way to utilize a growingly accessible technology is a leap towards social equity. smartCARD is ready to hit the US market soon, with more planned improvements and similar projects on the way. Such developments comprise a new movement in mobile technology, which Dr. Erickson referred to as “mobile health” and hailed as the “next big thing.”

Once upon a time, self-diagnosis of medical conditions through a handy device was just the stuff of science fiction and wild imaginations, and the selfie was merely an example of an at times redundant social media behavior. Now, the potential of these to improve quality of life for many is starting to be realized. In a country like the Philippines, in which the prevalence of mobile phone usage is high, proper healthcare is still unavailable to majority of the population, and bright scientists and engineers are not uncommon, mobile health can be seen as an achievable dream for the future. If for some reason we Filipinos cannot access these foreign mobile health developments, we should be empowered and visionary enough to produce our own.

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This blog entry was written in response to the article New Tech Lets Cholesterol-Tracking Smartphone Users Take Lifesaving Selfies.

Article source:
Cornell University (2013, December 13). New tech lets cholesterol-tracking smartphone users take lifesaving selfies. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 16, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131213161150.htm

Image source: 
http://static.indianexpress.com/m-images/Tue%20Nov%2019%202013,%2014:37%20hrs/M_Id_440783_Selfie.jpg