As you know, I have always been fascinated by nature and its healing power. At the same time, I closely follow how medicine develops, and I am very interested in all the innovations in this area that can really change something.
The pandemic has exposed many vulnerable aspects of the medical field. The inability to see a doctor or visit some specialized institutions has greatly complicated the situation of some patients with chronic diseases.
The pandemic has also shown us that early diagnosis of a disease sometimes means a new chance at life.
In this context, tests that could be performed at home without going to a doctor have played, and continue to play, a significant role in the timely detection of COVID-19 infection and the prescription of the appropriate treatment.
What other diseases can we control without leaving home?
For many years, people have been able to manage their blood pressure, blood sugar, pulse, breathing… Although we no longer consider them innovations, over time, monitoring has been proven to be important in the detection and treatment of certain diseases.
Having said all this, I would like to tell you a little about one innovation that caught my attention and which I consider important to tell you about.
In the middle of July, 2022 the Healthy.io company announced the start of the Minuteful Kidney application which allows to carry out early diagnosis of diseases of kidneys in house conditions.
According to the developers, the service works on the basis of artificial intelligence, and the test itself requires only a smartphone that the patient has.
Using colorimetric analysis, computer vision and artificial intelligence, the smartphone camera is transformed into a clinical-grade medical device. And the app gives users step-by-step instructions, making testing as easy as taking a photo. Experts assure that a person of any age can pass the test in less than 3 minutes.
Minuteful Kidney includes the standard Albumin to Creatinine Ratio (ACR) test, which is commonly used as one of the first indicators of kidney damage. The test itself measures the amount of albumin in the patient's urine. Because persistently higher than average protein in the urine is a major and early symptom of kidney damage, this test can help diagnose chronic kidney disease at its earliest stages.
How does this application work?
First you will receive by mail a test kit, after which the application will guide you through all the necessary testing steps: from urine collection to analysis of results.
According to Healthy.io, the Minuteful Kidney app and test kit is the first smartphone-based at-home ACR test cleared by the FDA.
Why did this innovation attract my attention?
According to statistics, 10% of the world's population suffers from various kidney diseases. They are the eighth leading cause of death in high-income countries.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 37 million Americans have chronic kidney disease. About 9 out of 10 people with this condition do not know they have it.
Therefore, timely testing can help some people detect kidney problems in time and may even give them a chance at life, as is the case with COVID 19 home tests.