In a world first, scientists in the UK have developed a 'death test' that can tell people how many years they have left to live.
The first-of-its-kind, simple and non-invasive test has been patented by Aneta Stefanovska and Peter McClintock, physics professors from Lancaster University.
In the test, a painless laser pulse is applied to the surface of the skin through a wristwatch-style device.
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This measures how a person's body will decline with age by analysing endothelial cells. These cells line the smallest blood vessels, capillaries, in human bodies and respond to complex activity elsewhere in the body, 'The Sunday Times' reported.
By measuring the oscillations within the cells, researchers said they can calculate the length of time before death and also test for diseases including cancer and dementia.
A user-friendly version of the system is expected to be completed within the next three years when it will be made available to general practitioners (GPs).
"I am hoping we will build a database that will become larger and larger, so every person measured can be compared against it. We will then be in a position to tell them the values [that] predict a certain number of years," said Stefanovska.
