"The idea was: what if we could bring blood chemistry testing directly to the home so that people could use that as a tool to know whether the things that they're doing to maintain a state of health and wellness are really working properly?" explains Messerschmidt. This would make it easier for people to get an understanding of what is going on inside their bodies and track their own health.

Cor isn't the first company to harness smartphones in a bid to make blood test info more readily available. Previously we've seen them used to monitor diabetes, to detect HIV and syphilis markers and to scan for parasitic worms. Like those examples, Cor uses a smartphone in tandem with additional pieces of kit.

The Cor kit comprises a web and smartphone app (initially for iOS, with an Android version planned), a blood reader and single-use cartridges that are used to take blood samples. The cartridges each have a fine needle that takes a surface-level blood sample when pressed against the arm.