A revolutionary instant blood-testing device announced recently by British scientists could save countless lives by speeding up medical treatment.
The supersmart mini-lab runs several tests at once from the same sample and gives readings identifying diseases in minutes.
As well as allowing doctors to make an on-the-spot diagnosis, the mobile phone-sized handset will also allow track officials and police to test urine for drugs without having to wait for lab results.
The device will also end the agonizing period of uncertainty faced by patients with potentially deadly diseases, including cancer.
A droplet of blood is placed on to the handset's screen and electric fields beneath the glass divide it into mini samples so that several blood tests can be performed at the same time.
Developed by Southampton University and Japanese electronics giant Sharp at their labs in Oxford, the device could be in common use within five years.
Leading researcher Ben Hawden, of Sharp, said: "It's about being able to work with tiny micro-litre volumes of fluid, so a test can be done very quickly and very efficiently.
"A key feature of the technology is that we will be able to do many tests on just one droplet of blood, being able to test for many things. Where currently, that would have to be done in hospital on a rather large machine that takes several hours.
"With our technology it would be possible to do it in the Doctor's surgery during the time of your appointment, producing a very accurate picture of what might be wrong with you, so the GP can you treat you there and then.
"We think in the future it could transform and revolutionise healthcare."
The breakthrough was achieved by combining two sciences, Microfluidics and microelectronics.
Microfluidics investigates the precise control and manipulation of fluids on the sub-mm scale.
Professor Hywel Morgan of Southampton University, who has been working on Microfluidics for 20 years said: "What we have developed is methods of doing the chemistry and the chemical biology and testing the results on one portable device.
"What is revolutionary is the ability to do testing there and then when you need it; so you can get an instant diagnosis.
"For people with long-term diseases who need to be monitored all the time, this technology could be really useful in terms of real time patient and health management.
"The potential has been limited for a while due to the lack of programmability. What Sharp has helped do is make each individual device completely programmable."