"The impact of Dr. Buddy Ratner's latest work, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is hard to describe. “We loosely call it the magic wand,” Dr. Ratner said. It's relatively simple physics. Electricity reacts with a flow of gas to create a glowing, low-temperature plasma. The plasma breaks off a few molecules from a sample of bodily fluid and sends them through a machine that measures the major nutrients on a computer tablet in three minutes. Normally, this process takes a tube and a half of blood and 24 hours of analysis. So, for developing countries, this “plasma pen” truly could be magic. As Dr. Gaetano Boriello explained, “in Tanzania, there’s one doctor for every 50,000 people.” Dr. Boriello studies how technology like Dr. Ratner’s can help in places with few medical resources. He says the plasma pen, which is planned to be an app for a smartphone, will be a powerful tool for social workers who often only get one chance to help someone. “In very poor, rural, even nomadic communities, finding that same patient again can be a hell of a chore sometimes,” Boriello said. “And so having that result right there onsite is really important.”" http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-medicalapps-20110817,0,7443289.story