PARC Develops iPod-Sized HIV-Detection Device to Bring Affordable Testing To Rural Communities
The monetary and energy expense of HIV testing machines prevent their deployment to remote or impoverished areas; the very places that need them the most. To rectify that inequity, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) has created a battery-operated HIV testing device the size of an iPod. The machine can return a test result in 10 minutes, and costs significantly less than the large machines used in most hospitals. The device works by measuring the reflection of a laser beam off a small sample of blood. Depending on the density of T-white blood cells, a key indicator for the presence and progress of HIV, the laser will scatter differently. That laser detection method makes the device both simple and cheap, with the prototype only costing $250 to build. PARC hopes that the ease of use, small size, and low cost will empower doctors in the poorest, most AIDS-afflicted areas, where doctors often...