C-FAST
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C-FAST was a device purported to be able to detect infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) from a distance, using electromagnetic radiation emanating from the virus' genome. At a press conference in February 2014, Egyptian generals presented the device as a result of decades-long secret military research.
The government of Egypt filed an international patent for the device in 2010.[1] The Guardian wrote about it in February 2013.[2] A report on an international study evaluating C-FAST appeared in 2013 in an online journal published by the predatory publisher WASET. According to this report, the device detected hepatitis C with high specificity and sensitivity.[2] The device was said to compare the received electromagnetic signal from a patient to the ideal signal emitted by a specific part of the HCV RNA genome that had been measured in a laboratory and stored on the device. If those signals agreed, the hand-held device would create a force, pointing the device's antenna towards the patient; if they didn't agree, no force was detected.[2][3]
The device's design and claimed method of action were very similar to those of the bogus bomb detection device ADE 651,[4] and it resembles a divining rod.[5]