Super smartphone? Cradle, app detect toxins, bacteria
Afraid there may be peanuts or other allergens hiding in that cookie? Researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign have transformed a smartphone into a handheld biosensor to run on-the-spot tests for food safety and more.
August 1, 2013 - 10:49 am
![](https://develop.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/8772538-0-150007.jpg)
Kenny Long, a graduate researcher studying engineering and medicine at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign works with a handheld biosensor based on an iPhone, is shown in this June 21 photo in Urbana, Ill.
URBANA, Ill. — Afraid there may be peanuts or other allergens hiding in that cookie? Thanks to a cradle and app that turn your smartphone into a handheld biosensor, you may soon be able to run on-the-spot tests for food safety, environmental toxins, medical diagnostics and more.
The handheld biosensor was developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A series of lenses and filters in the cradle mirror those found in larger, more expensive laboratory devices. Together, the cradle and app transform a smartphone into a tool that can detect toxins and bacteria, spot water contamination and identify allergens in food.
Kenny Long, a graduate researcher at the university, says the team was able to make the smartphone even smarter with modifications to the cellphone camera.