United Kingdom company QuantuMDX now has a working prototype for a device intended to quickly test a sample of blood, sputum (saliva mixed with mucus) or even tumor cells for genetic markers that provide information to guide a doctor's decisions on how to treat a patient, Fox News reports.

The prototype is about the size of an iPad 5, or 6.6 by 9.4 inches (17 by 24 centimeters), but thicker. 

To use it, a doctor would put a sample from a patient into a credit-card sized, disposable cartridge and pop the cartridge into the device for analysis. So far, the prototype has shown success in producing DNA test results from blood.

The sensor in the device is intended to detect, for example, if a person is infected by the malaria parasite, which species of parasite is responsible for the infection and whether the parasite is resistant to antimalarial medications.

This basic technique can be applied in many ways. QuantuMDX is developing applications that could one day provide information about tumor cells, or determine if someone has genetic variations that will affect his or her response to the blood-thinning drug warfarin. And the company has received proposals from people interested in using it in everything from veterinary work to forensics.