These days, women can find out if they're pregnant within the space of fifteen minutes, using simple home pregnancy kits. But when you're worried that you might have a disease, it's generally tough to get a final verdict without hours of testing.

That could be about to change, thanks to scientists from the University of Leeds, who've just developed a handheld device that uses a sensor to test blood or urine for the presence of molecules associated with various diseases. The device is able to test for cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV, and any number of other diseases, within the space of just fifteen minutes.

The machines are expected to be commercially available within the next three years for use at doctors' offices, though it still may be some time before home disease testing kits are available on the market. Either way, the innovative technology should make the diagnostic process much easier on future patients.

"We believe this to be the next generation diagnostic testing," lead researcher Dr. Paul Millner told the Telegraph. "We can now detect almost any analyte - a substance associated with disease - faster, cheaper and more easily than the current accepted testing methodology. We think this could revolutionise detection."