Researchers at Hiroshima University (HU) in Japan have developed a way to leverage the cameras on smartphones to provide accurate radiation readings. The system they created costs less than US$70 and could be a big help in disaster situations. That said, many current methods of measuring radiation exposure rely on complex lab analysis or expensive equipment. The paper describing the system has been published in the journal Radiation Measurements, and is open access so that others may benefit from the findings. While the system works even better with desktop scanners, Yasuda says they wanted something more portable.