Smartphone albumin detector to make life easier for diabetics

The smartphone-based device was developed in the research lab of Aydogan Ozcan, a professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and associate director of the California NanoSystems Institute.

The device can determine levels of albumin - a protein in blood that is a sign of danger when found in urine - in the patient’s urine and transmit the results in seconds. Albumin is a protein in blood that is a sign of danger when found in urine.

Ozcan’s lab also developed the opto-mechanical phone attachment, disposable test tubes, Android app and software to transmit the data. The research has been published in Lab on a Chip.

‘Albumin testing is frequently done to assess kidney damage, especially for diabetes patients,’ Ozcan said in a statement. ‘This device provides an extremely convenient platform for chronic patients at home or in remote locations where cell phones work.’