Taking selfies could soon help people spot the early signs of cancer

Our front-facing camera could diagnose cancer soon.

A new app being developed in the US could soon help people diagnose pancreatic cancer simply by taking a selfie. Researchers at the University of Washington say they now have an app that can analyse the yellow discolouration in your eyes to help diagnose jaundice. BiliScreen works by comparing the colour of the whites in your eyes to that of a pair of multicoloured glasses that must be worn during use. This then tells you how much bilirubin is present in your eyes. In early tests, the BiliScreen tested 70 people and correctly identified “cases for concern” nearly 90 percent of the time.

"The hope is that if people can do this simple test once a month — in the privacy of their own homes — some might catch the disease early enough to undergo treatment that could save their lives," said Alex Mariakakis, lead author of the paper explaining the app.