Getting tested for STDs used to mean a doctor's visit, vials of blood, and days, weeks, or even months of
anxiously waiting for results. mChip aims to change all that, while simultaneously ridding your brain of viable excuses not to get tested. It works as such: one drop of blood goes on the microfluidics-based optical chip, 15 minutes pass, and boom, the AmEx-sized device will confirm whether or not you have syphilis and / or HIV. The bantam gizmo is practically foolproof, as reading the results doesn't require any human interpretation whatsoever. Plus, it's cheap -- cheaper than a coffee at Starbucks. One dollar cheap. Researchers at Columbia University claim the mChip has a 100 percent detection rate, although there's a four to six percent chance of getting a false positive -- a stat similar to traditional lab tests. As you'd likely expect, there's hope that the inexpensive mChip will help testing efforts in places like Africa to detect HIV before it turns into AIDS. Next stop: the self-service pharmacy at CVS?
posted Aug 4th 2011 7:32AM
Interesting post. Hopefully this will prove as a better tool for those people that are afraid of getting tested and being judged by people wondering if they have syphilis or not. It can be done based on the convenience of their own home and it won't break the bank. Hope to see this on market soon.
ReplyDeleteThis is great to see! I remember going to UCF and getting tested for everything and let me say it was an extremely nervous time. I couldn't help but feel judged and dirty, just for getting tested! Luckily, everything turned out to be okay; however, what about the people who are too afraid to get tested and in the mean time are spreading diseases. I can see this invention as the catalyst for a huge decrease in the spread of AIDS in the future. Great article and great synopsis.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is some pretty cool and wild stuff. yea, there is always a stigma involved with getting tested (from what I hear, not from experience...haha). Seems like it is extremely convenient, pretty safe, and fairly accurate. Oh, and super cheap too...that is usually a great recipe for success.
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