This possible advance both amuses me and makes me wonder:
Generic fidget spinner.
A device inspired by fidget spinner toys can diagnose a urinary tract infection (UTI) in less than an hour, without the need for a laboratory or electricity.
The device takes advantage of the centrifugal force generated by spinning to push the urine sample through a membrane lining its interior. Any bacteria in the urine will be separated from the liquid and stick to the surface of the membrane. Adding a dye that stains bacterial cells orange will then reveal their presence within 45 minutes.
“It is easy to operate,” says Yoon-Kyoung Cho at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea. One or two spins is usually enough to get a diagnosis, she says. [NewScientist]
Can this be generalized to handle other pathogens? Perhaps a dye specific to certain classes of pathogens? Distributed test processing, as I think of it, might take significant pressure of medical test processing. We already do this with glucose monitoring strips: a prick of the finger and the test gear, miniaturized in a little box, soon has your number for you.
On the other hand, I have to wonder if this would have a negative or positive effect on the environment relative to more traditional test processing methods.
