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Smartphones as a platform for molecular analysis: concepts, methods, devices and future potential.
Daina V Baker1, Jasmine Bernal-Escalante1, Christine Traaseth1
1Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada. algar@chem.ubc.ca.
Lab on a Chip
|February 7, 2025
Summary
Smartphones are evolving into powerful portable molecular analysis platforms. Integrating advanced features, they enable accessible health, environmental, and food safety testing through innovative lab-on-a-chip devices.
Area of Science:
- Analytical Chemistry
- Biotechnology
- Mobile Health
Background:
- Smartphones have revolutionized daily life and now offer potential for transforming molecular analysis.
- Their integrated cameras and onboard features facilitate the development of portable analytical devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the development of smartphones as platforms for portable chemical and biological analysis.
- To provide a conceptual overview, technical tutorial, and critical summary of the state-of-the-art.
- To outline future directions for advancing smartphone-based analytical tools.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing research on smartphone-based analytical platforms.
- Discussion of enabling smartphone features and optical detection methods.
- Highlighting complementary technologies like 3D printing, microfluidics, and optoelectronics.
Main Results:
- Smartphones can be engineered into effective platforms for portable molecular analysis.
- Key advances in the past 7 years have been reviewed, covering various applications.
- Integration with smart assays, apps, machine learning, and AI shows significant promise.
Conclusions:
- Smartphone-based lab-on-a-chip devices offer a powerful, versatile, and democratized future for molecular analysis.
- Opportunities exist for translating prototypes into authentic applications in health, food safety, and environmental monitoring.
- The convergence of mobile technology with advanced analytics promises to make sophisticated testing widely accessible.
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