A portable blood test could allow patients to monitor their health at home through an app, potentially reducing some hospital or GP visits.
King’s College London spinout Algocyte has developed the small blood-testing device that connects via Bluetooth and uses AI to build a picture of an individual’s health over time.
The technology could be particularly useful for patients who need regular monitoring, such as those undergoing chemotherapy and currently relying on frequent hospital or GP blood tests.
Dr Hector Zenil is founder and chief executive of Algocyte and associate professor in healthcare engineering at King’s College London.
He said: “This achievement demonstrates how academia and industry can work together to deliver meaningful social impact.
“Academia advances fundamental research into health, disease, and the application of AI to cell and molecular biology. Industry translates these advances into scalable technologies.
“This technology could have a real-world impact on the many patients receiving treatments that would benefit from regular blood monitoring, such as chemotherapy or the use of medicines like clozapine, which require close monitoring of blood cell levels due to potential side effects or complications.”
Patients collect small blood samples using minimally invasive methods such as a finger prick before placing them in the device.
Rather than sending the sample to a laboratory, sensors measure properties of the blood, which AI algorithms analyse to generate results that can be shared digitally with doctors and patients.
Most blood tests provide a snapshot of a person’s health at a single point in time, while the device is designed to identify small changes over a longer period.
The technology could also free up NHS resources, with millions of blood tests carried out across the UK each year to diagnose disease, monitor treatments and assess overall health.
Algocyte combines expertise in artificial intelligence, bioengineering, computational biology and clinical medicine.
The device has received UKCA marking, indicating that it meets relevant UK health, safety and environmental protection requirements.
It is now progressing through further testing and evaluation in commercial deployment.
Algocyte is also gathering more scientific evidence and completing further regulatory steps as it works towards making the technology more widely available in different settings and for predictive purposes.
The PROXIMA Mobile Health Station was officially launched at the Royal Society of Medicine in London on 29 June after receiving UKCA marking.
The event brought together researchers, clinicians, industry partners and healthcare leaders to mark the milestone and discuss the technology’s future development, clinical validation and potential applications across healthcare.
