Two new artificial intelligence apps use your smartphone camera to screen for urinary tract infections (UTIs) or possible signs of chronic kidney disease. Designed to cater for people in lockdown, the apps from Israel-based health technology company Healthy.io With the UTI app, called Velieve, users order a UTI test kit to be delivered to their home, submit their results through the app, and then receive an in-app diagnosis within 30 minutes. The kidney disease app, meanwhile, will be'prescribed' by GPs to patients who are at high risk of chronic kidney disease. This test, which detects albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) – a key marker of kidney disease – in urine samples, will also be delivered via post and analysed through the app, with the result delivered to directly to the GP.

As the smartphone falls in price while its capabilities improve, it is becoming a valuable tool in the diagnosis of a growing number of diseases and ailments around the world. When Yonatan Adiri's mother fell down a bank and briefly lost consciousness when travelling in China, an initial diagnosis suggested she had a few broken ribs, but nothing more serious. Doctors were keen to fly her to Hong Kong for treatment. But Yonatan's father was worried and took photos of the CT [computerised tomography] scans of the injuries, emailing them to his son. Yonatan showed the images to a trauma doctor, who instantly diagnosed a punctured lung.