Hormonal smartphone diagnostics

Abstract

Mobile point-of-care diagnostics are paramount for the provision of healthcare. Hormonal diagnostics are powerful tools to monitor timely changes in human physiology. Hormone concentrations in serum directly correlate with urine excretions with minor time delays. Therefore, rapid tests for hormones in urine have been widely used for decades as means of early diagnostics, particularly in lateral flow immunoassay formats. However, the challenge of reading and interpreting these binary tests remains. Here we present a method for utilizing mobile technologies to quantitatively read and interpret hormonal test strips. The method demonstrates the detection of a urinary by-product of progesterone, pregnanediol glucuronide (PdG), and its relation to ovulation and the fertility cycle.