New Home Kidney Test Uses Smartphone to Monitor Kidney Health
People with chronic kidney disease can now monitor their kidney health at home, using a test kit and a smartphone. The Minuteful Kidney
A new smartphone-enabled test provides people at risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) the ability to monitor their kidney health from the comfort of their own homes.
The Minuteful Kidney test uses a smartphone camera to look for the presence of a specific protein in the urine called albumin.
This is the first time the FDA has granted clearance for this kind of smartphone-enabled test, also known as the albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR).
A new smartphone-enabled test that received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
in July will provide Americans at risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) the same ability to monitor their kidney health from the comfort of their own home.
The Minuteful Kidney test, developed by Boston-based company Healthy.io, uses a smartphone camera to look for the presence of a specific protein in the urine called albumin.
Andrea Somerville, from Boston, whose doctor is monitoring her kidney function, received a Minuteful Kidney test kit in the mail after her health insurer ordered one for her.
“It was easy to do and really easy to upload everything to my phone so that the results could go to me and to my doctor,” she said.
“The other piece that’s nice,” she added, “is that you find out the results right then and there, and it’s done in the privacy of your own home.”