LOS ANGELES -- There may soon be a smartphone app that can tell you whether you have an STD like HIV or Syphilis.
Researchers in the United Kingdom are currently working on the app.
Users would put urine or saliva on a USB chip, which would then be plugged into the phone.
The phone's app then analyzes the sample, giving you results within minutes.
The prototype chips cost about $15 to $30, according to the developers working on the so-called "eSTI2" project.
They hope to bring that cost down to about $3 before the chips go on sale.
The prototypes also need to go through clinical trials and further tech development. They could go to market in about 7 to 10 years.
Researchers in the United Kingdom are currently working on the app.
Users would put urine or saliva on a USB chip, which would then be plugged into the phone.
The phone's app then analyzes the sample, giving you results within minutes.
The prototype chips cost about $15 to $30, according to the developers working on the so-called "eSTI2" project.
They hope to bring that cost down to about $3 before the chips go on sale.
The prototypes also need to go through clinical trials and further tech development. They could go to market in about 7 to 10 years.