Computer screen photo-assisted techniques for global monitoring of environmental and sanitary parameters

The computer screen photo-assisted technique (CSPT) is a measuring method that uses regular computer screens as controlled light sources and web cameras as imaging detectors for optical evaluations of sensing substances, which optical properties respond to target analytes. The fact, that CSPT uses a globally distributed and familiar infrastructure as instrumentation and that is able to serve multiple targets with the same setup, makes it an attractive candidate for home testing. This article reviews the CSPT concept and focuses in two recent studies that demonstrate thorough CSPT determinations using a handy and eventually disposable assay format, with the potential to be as ubiquitous as the CSPT platforms themselves. The implications of such combination of technologies is discussed, and its potential to support the global monitoring of environmental and sanitary parameters, using Internet geography browsers, is analyzed. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.