Rutgers scientists Mehdi Javanmard and Abbas Furniturewalla have developed a wrist wearable that can count particles, including blood cells, bacteria, and organic or inorganic air particles. Red blood cell counts can indicate internal bleeding. High or low white blood cell counts can indicate cancers, such as leukemia, or other illnesses.
The plastic wristband includes a flexible circuit board and a thin biosensor with a channel, or pipe, with embedded gold electrodes. A circuit processes electrical signals, and a micro-controller digitizes data, which is transmitted via bluetooth. Blood samples are obtained through pinpricks, and fed through the channel, where the cells counted.
The goal is rapid blood test results with out lab-based equipment.