Got VD? There’s an app for that.

November 10th, 2010

Soon, you’ll be able to pee onto your iPhone to check if you have any sexually transmitted infections. Yuck.

From the UK Guardian:

A new test will soon enable STDs to be diagnosed via mobile phone or computer, a move that health experts hope will slow the rising rate of infection among young peopleMobile phones and computers will soon be able to diagnose sexually transmitted diseases under innovative plans to cut the UK’s rising rate of herpes, chlamydia and gonorrhoea among young people.

Doctors and technology experts are developing small devices, similar to pregnancy testing kits, that will tell someone quickly and privately if they have caught an infection through sexual contact.

People who suspect they have been infected will be able to put urine or saliva on to a computer chip about the size of a USB chip, plug it into their phone or computer and receive a diagnosis within minutes, telling them which, if any, sexually transmitted infection (STI) they have. Seven funders, including the Medical Research Council, have put £4m into developing the technology via a forum called the UK Clinical Research Collaboration.

To really make this project social, I suppose you would have to link this app to your social network.

If your iPhone finds that you have an STI, I suppose your Four Square would update to (“I checked into CVS to pick up some Penicillin), your facebook status would update to (“I am no longer in a relationship”) and your Twitter status would change to (“it burns!”). Yuck.