Researchers: Cancer-Detecting Smartphones Could Be a Reality

There's an app for that? Korea researchers have discovered a possible medical breakthrough, well at least the idea that your mobile device could screen for cancer someday. Scientists in the study found that touch screen technology could eliminate those hospital or doctor's office visits for cancer screenings by detecting biomolecular matter, that are currently detected in a medical lab.

"It began from the idea that touch screens work by recognizing the electronic signs from the touch of the finger, and so the presence of specific proteins and DNA should be recognizable as well," said Hyun-gyu Park, who with Byong-yeon Won led the study.

The touch screens on smartphones, PDAs or other electronic devices work by sensing the electronic charges from the user's body on the screen. Biochemicals such as proteins and DNA molecules also carry specific electronic charges.

[ via Huffington Post ]

There is no timeline for when this might actually become a reality.