In a world where nearly 4 billion people lack access to basic health care, the need for mobile testing using simple methods such as a single drop of blood could have momentous impacts on care. The level of individualized, near real-time care could become a reality in the developing world, as well as in many remote areas of the industrialized world. Anita Goel, M.D., Ph.D., a Harvard-MIT-trained physicist and physician, claims, technologies like our Gene-RADAR are emerging from the new field of nanobiophysics which will mobilize, personalize, and decentralize the next generation of health infrastructure, exponentially increasing access on a global scale.

Although there are significant gaps in health care around the world, there is no lack of technology in the health sector. Gene-RADAR is an iPad-sizedmobile diagnostic platform that works off of a drop of blood or saliva to deliver a real-time diagnosis ata price point makers claim are 10 to 100 times cheaper than conventional tests.

Gene-RADAR

Decentralizing Health Care

When Google was launched in 1998 it revolutionized the world and our access to knowledge about the world, by taking books, manuscripts, music, general history and information out of libraries, and into homes, information began to decentralize immediately. Like that ground-breaking endeavor, Gene-RADAR has the ability to be the first mobile device that can test for diabetes, tuberculosis, AIDS, HIV, E.Coli and even certain types of cancer in under an hour. The ability, domestically and abroad, for individuals and providers to know this information without the US-based four-walled hospital could fundamentally transform the way we understand and practice medicine.

In the United States however, this means that we must prepare the ecosystem for the kinds of shocks that could result from unleashing this kind of technology. Further, it means understanding and harnessing the power of such technology that intersects physics, nanotechnology and information technology. When there are critical gaps and limitations to what can be done in silos, the need for combining these kinds of technologies and innovations is paramount. Gene-RADAR integration means that potentially the unmet need for diagnosis is not only in the hands of those who need it, but that the costs also plummet.

Unmet Need Meets Customization

Empowering individuals to take responsibility for their own health care begins with access. By bringing Gene-RADAR to individuals, Dr. Goel believes that consumers will be more empowered to take ownership over their own health. Further, both industrialized nations and developing countries can benefit from increased access and quality of care.

Currently, Gene-RADAR is custom building apps for customers in both the developed and developing worlds and have already designed two pilot studies to run simultaneously in a large US hospital system and in Rwanda.

In the United States, Nanobiosyms goal is to use Gene-RADAR to demonstrate a mobile cost-effective and real-time solution to cut costs while delivering better patient care. This also enables the next generation of pharma, and how these changes will impact the way Americans are diagnosed and treated. What makes Gene-RADAR special, says Dr. Goel, is thatthe applications behind the platform are extremely flexible, and therefore can be customized for each partners needs, accommodating their nuances such as the user group who will be tested, the disease targets and even the site location.

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Little Things Do Make A Big Difference: Globalizing Personal Health