K - Dx - A Point-of-Care Potassium Diagnostic System

Kidneys are vital organs involved in the balance of fluids and electrolytes in the body. Intaking too little or too much potassium can have serious consequences on a person’s health. For patients with chronic kidney disease, it is important to precisely moderate potassium intake. This project presents a portable potassium diagnostic system which can directly measure potassium content in food and fluid, as well as estimate potassium content through image recognition.

To directly measure potassium content, the system uses a probe which is placed into a food sample prepared using the system’s homogenizer. A camera system then takes photos to identify and estimate the volume of the food or fluid. A Raspberry Pi computer contains both a software package with an evolving database listing potassium content for specific substances and a graphical user interface which allows users to easily track and record daily potassium intake. The recorded measurements are available for use by health care providers.