It’s the size of your thumbnail, costs pennies to make and could save thousands of lives.

The newest technology in health care is decidedly low tech. A few layers of paper, cut into a specific pattern, these “chips” can diagnose disease.

As reported by CNN, the major use for the new gadget is in war-torn or third world countries, where doctors are scarce and labs to run blood work and diagnose disease are even more so. The paper chips, which do not yet have a name, could, with one drop of blood, give the user an answer about HIV, malaria, Hepatitis C, and various other diseases, all on one chip of paper.

The chip works in a way not unlike a home pregnancy test. Supply a drop of blood, and the treated paper will channel the blood into the form of a tree, with the colors providing answers as to whether or not the patient is infected with various diseases. More than that, the “chips” can assess the severity of the disease.

That said, the chip is not the most advanced “lab-on-a-chip” technology. It is, however, one of the least expensive, and could provide definitive answers to those that cannot access basic health care.

The technology, which could be on the market in a year, was

developed by Whitesides Research Group, which is headed by a professor at Harvard University.

According to Whitesides, he found his inspiration from the simple form of computer chips and comic books. His inspirations became an integral part of the chip itself, with water-repellent comic book ink the

force that channels the blood into

the shape of a tree. The treated paper beneath that tree shape reacts with the blood in ways that, read correctly, can diagnose disease.

Whitesides envisions the chips being used hand-in-hand with cell phones, which have become incredibly popular in even destitute areas.

A picture of the diagnostic paper chip, taken on a cell phone, could be sent from a rural area to a doctor miles away, who could interpret the results and give the patient an answer.

There are limits to the chip’s power, though. A definitive answer is all well and good, but Dr. Gaby Vercauteren of the WHO warns that without access to the care that patients need, only one part of the problem has been solved.

Knowing that a person has a disease and being able to treat it are two very different things.

Whitesides’ chip can only do part of that. Nevertheless, the cheap, functional chip could make a huge difference in the way that doctors approach medical care in the developing world, decreasing the need for bulky laboratory equipment and allowing many to finally know what diseases they may be facing