Is 2013 the Year of Smartphone Biometric Screening?

The confluence of new technologies and consumers’ desire to take control of their healthcare destiny is pushing personal biometrics into the medical mainstream.

Imagine your smartphone as the first, best tool in your quest to get fit, stay healthy and optimize peak athletic performance. Well, from iPhones to Androids medical professionals and hardware developers have joined forces to move personal biometric testing from the physician’s office to your mobile phone.

In what seems like a matter of months, this new field of smartphone biometric testing/screening has blossomed into a multimillion dollar industry headed to multibillion in the next year or so.

Early adapters and serious fitness trainers will be using their smartphones to test personal health parameters in important areas such as stress levels (via cortisol), testosterone and estrogen production, fertility, cholesterol health, lactate levels (to track recovery after exercise) and more.

For personal biometrics, tests are being developed that use a drop of saliva and a small measuring unit that attaches to your smartphone. Results are instantaneous and can be stored and tracked on your phone.

Right now, these units are being sold to physicians, particularly those in rural areas and under developed countries, as a kind of portable lab. (The physician units can also test a number of parameters in the blood.)

As a local Salt Lake City physician explains, “Americans are concerned about their health and fitness levels and are also wary of upcoming changes in medical services and costs as ‘Obamacare’ begins to roll out. The idea of testing for fitness levels, stress levels and early signs of a potential healthcare concern is attractive for physicians, insurers and individuals. If used wisely, these tests could reduce the number of doctor visits, help lower insurance costs, help individuals improve their health and fitness and give consumers some control over their healthcare options.”

Already in 2013, a patented test for cortisol, which can tell you a lot about stress levels (and consequently the numerous problems exacerbated by stress – including weight gain), is being rolled out in the first quarter. Other tests will follow as the year progresses.

Not so long ago, in fact just a few months ago, personal biometric testing was done in a doctor’s office and those taking advantage of the service were more likely to be California fitness fanatics, starlets and athletes.

In 2013, the rest of us will get this health advantage in our homes, on our phones and for just a few dollars per test.

If you want to see a testing unit (blood) in use by a physician traveling in the Kalahari Desert in Africa, visit http://youtu.be/pLcDQNaR84U

The unit is a patented smartphone device from I-calQ (www.I-calQ.com).