In an old office building at NASA 's Ames Research Center in Mountain View , California , there 's a room stacked high with plastic containers of synthetic urine . Researchers dip small white paddles into the liquid , wait for a grid of squares to change colors , and snap a photo with a custom smartphone app . It 's all part of a futuristic self-diagnosis kit from startup Scanadu , which is competing to be the future of DIY health care . Scanadu is one of 10 teams taking part in the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize contest to create an affordable , handheld device that consumers can use to diagnose their medical conditions at home . The goal is to make a working version of `` Star Trek 's '' tricorder , the television show 's fictional diagnostic device . In the series , the ship 's doctor would wave the portable black box over a patent 's body and immediately know if a person had broken bones , a disease or if they were going to die . The real-life tricorder must weigh less than 5 pounds , monitor five vital signs and detect 15 medical conditions . It should let people measure their own blood pressure , heart rate , temperature , oxygen saturation and respiratory rate . Each system will be able to diagnose common health conditions including diabetes , anemia , sleep apnea and pneumonia . `` We 're asking teams to put together an aggregation of technologies that 's never been done before , '' said Dr. Erik Viirre , the technical and medical director for the Tricorder X Prize . `` We 're spurring things to market faster , better and cheaper . '' The multiyear contest is run by X Prize , a nonprofit organization that attempts to accelerate major technological advances . Last week , the judges narrowed down the field of 41 teams to 10 , which now have until April to create working prototypes for consumer tests . The three groups that make the most successful tricorders will split a $ 10 million prize . In 2005 , Walter De Brouwer 's 5-year-old son jumped out of a window and fell 36 feet to the ground . After a year in emergency rooms , operating rooms and the ICU , De Brouwer had a whole new perspective on hospitals . He saw firsthand how powerless patients often were . Inspired by the less invasive medical devices from science fiction , he moved to Silicon Valley and started Scanadu. `` 'Star Trek ' was not TV , it was a business plan , '' said 57-year-old De Brouwer . Scanadu is already close to having working prototypes of its tricorder system . In addition to the Scanaflo ( a single-use urine test ) the company has created the Scanadu Scout , a palm-sized disc you press to your forehead or temple for 10 seconds to take vital signs , including blood pressure , temperature , heart and respiratory rate . The readings are imported to a smartphone , analyzed and tracked over time . De Brouwer 's vision is to have a constant collection of data that creates a baseline for each user . That information will allow the Scanadu app to detect issues early , even before there are noticeable symptoms . These types of devices are not meant to replace doctors , but to fill in when in-person medical care is not available , affordable or necessary . Every day , Dr . Basil Harris sees patients who have waited too long to seek treatment , often because they lack insurance or a primary care giver . There 's a steady stream of them at the Chicago emergency room where he works , showing up days after the first symptoms of serious illnesses . Harris , who also has a Ph.D. in engineering , leads the Tricorder X Prize finalist team Final Frontier Medical Devices . His tricorder combines a regular tablet computer with a separate Bluetooth gadget that takes vitals and runs other tests . The companion tablet app walks the patient through the same types of questions Harris asks every patient who comes into his ER . `` It does everything you would expect a normal physician to do , '' said Harris . `` What an ER doctor does is make diagnoses . Doing that is somewhat an art and somewhat science . '' His team is also working on a novel approach to a neurological exam . Using the tablet , they can test users ' vision , picking up on subtle defects caused by illness . For example , if a person has suffered from a hemorrhagic stroke , they might lose some vision on just one side . The tests could detect the issue and tell the person to seek medical help immediately , cutting down on the chance of permanent disability . Inventing a new medical device is only the first step to getting it into the hands of real people . Perhaps even more useful than the money is how the X Prize is working with the Food and Drug Administration . Getting regulatory compliance for a new product is notoriously difficult and expensive , and it requires clinical trials . But the FDA is working closely with the X Prize organization . The X Prize will also manage the vigorous final tests that determine which devices will win . Each team must produce 30 working prototypes of their tricorders for consumer testers . They 'll be used and reviewed by people who have one of the conditions the tricorders are required to detect . The final teams hail from six countries . They include doctors , engineers , undergrads , entrepreneurs and researchers , and all have unique approaches to the technology . Many , like Scanadu , Final Frontier and Slovenian team MESI Simplifying Diagnostics , are creating small gadgets that work with existing mobile devices . Some are taking a more traditional approach with things like blood pressure cuffs and finger pricks . The Danvantri team from India is working on a low-cost device worn around the neck specifically for developing countries . One thing they all agree on is that this technology 's time is now . `` This device , whether it 's mine or someone else 's , is coming , '' said Harris . `` It puts the information in the hands of the consumer where they can make actionable decisions . It really levels the playing field . ''
Contest seeks a real tricorder that can measure vital signs and detect illnesses . They are part of the $ 10 million Tricorder X Prize challenge . Many use smartphones , tablets to create mobile self-diagnostic devices for consumers . The gadgets could give people more control over their own health care .