Smartphone-Enabled Personalized Diagnostics: Current Status and Future Prospects

Abstract

Smartphones are becoming increasingly versatile thanks to the wide variety of sensor and actuator systems packed in them. Mobile devices today go well beyond their original purpose as communication devices, and this enables important new applications, ranging from augmented reality to the Internet of Things. Personalized diagnostics is one of the areas where mobile devices can have the greatest impact. Hitherto, the camera and communication abilities of these devices have been barely exploited for point of care (POC) purposes. This short review covers the recent evolution of mobile devices in the area of POC diagnostics and puts forward some ideas that may facilitate the development of more advanced applications and devices in the area of personalized diagnostics. With this purpose, the potential exploitation of wireless power and actuation of sensors and biosensors using near field communication (NFC), the use of the screen as a light source for actuation and spectroscopic analysis, using the haptic module to enhance mass transport in micro volumes, and the use of magnetic sensors are discussed.

Smartphone-Based Multiplexed Biosensing Tools for Health Monitoring

“…Colorimetric detection was made possible by mobile phone cameras [ 17 ]. Other technical capabilities of smartphones in the biosensing field include data displaying and processing, depending on the detection method, to meet different points of need [ 5 , 18 , 19 ]. Due to their quality and resolution, imaging capabilities were adapted to molecular sensing [ 20 ].…”

“…Multiplexing is the practice of detecting or recognizing numerous biomarkers in one diagnostic test, which can be useful for a variety of illnesses. Previous studies proved that biosensors are powerful tools for the purpose of health monitoring [ 5 ]. However, focusing on single-biomarker detection is frequently insufficient to give the required information for clinical diagnosis or disease tracking [ 6 ].…”

Cost-Effective Fiber Optic Solutions for Biosensing

“…Smartphones are ubiquitous pocket devices that offer unprecedented diagnostic opportunities for the real-time detection of vital parameters [ 91 ]. Modern off-the-shelf phones have several instruments that can be used for sensing purposes [ 92 ], and mobile apps can be developed to use each component of the phone to create sensing systems.…”

Toward Next-Generation Mobile Diagnostics: Near-Field Communication-Powered Electrochemiluminescent Detection

“…Smartphones are ubiquitous today, to the point that there are more mobile phones than people in the world. 6 In addition to communications and entertainment, health (diagnostics) is another area where smartphones can play an important role. Sensors and actuators present in current smartphones enable them to replace specific and complex instrumentation such as potentiostats and spectrometers that are at the foundations of many laboratory analytical methods.…”

“…However, in spite of their sophistication and technological complexity, they have become everyday objects thanks to the ease of use enabled by software. Smartphones are ubiquitous today, to the point that there are more mobile phones than people in the world . In addition to communications and entertainment, health (diagnostics) is another area where smartphones can play an important role.…”