Health
Malaria Detection Using a Life-Saving Light Beam
(CTN News) – Researchers at the University of Queensland have developed a fast, needle-free malaria detection tool that has the potential to help save hundreds of thousands of lives every year.
Typically, malaria is detected by a blood test. However, scientists have devised a method to detect it. This method uses a device that shines a beam of harmless infrared light on a person’s ear or finger for five to ten seconds.
This device collects an infrared fingerprint that is then processed by a computer algorithm.
In an interview with UQ’s School of Biological Sciences, Dr Maggy Lord, the international team leader, said that the technology would revolutionise how malaria is fought worldwide in the future.
Currently, it is extremely difficult to test large groups of people, such as the population of a town or village. It requires taking blood from everyone and mixing it with a reagent in order to generate a result, said Dr Lord.
With the help of this tool, however, we can very quickly find out if an entire town or village is infected with malaria. This is because a large number of people are carrying the disease.
It is chemical free, does not require needles, and detects malaria through the skin using infrared light – all you need to do is shine a flash on the person’s skin.
The device is controlled in real-time by a smart phone, so results can be obtained as quickly as possible.”
The researchers believe that the technology is the first step toward eliminating malaria.
Approximately 241 million cases of malaria are expected to occur globally in 2020. More than 600,000 people will die from it, according to a report released by the World Health Organization.
The number of these deaths is ninety percent in sub-Saharan Africa, where most of them occur among children under the age of five.
As far as eradicating this disease is concerned, I believe the greatest challenge is the presence of asymptomatic individuals who act as reservoirs for mosquitoes to spread the disease.
A large-scale surveillance program has been recommended by the World Health Organization in areas where endemic diseases are prevalent. Our firm believes that this non-invasive, affordable, and rapid tool can assist us in achieving this objective.”
The technology may also prove useful in the fight against other diseases.
The technology has proven to be effective in detecting infections such as malaria, Zika, and dengue without the need for invasive tests, according to Dr. Lord.
“In our post-COVID world, it could be used to better tackle diseases as people move around the globe.
“We hope the tool could be used at ports of entry to screen travellers, minimising the re-introduction of diseases and reducing global outbreaks.
The proof-of-concept is still in its infancy, but I am excited by this proof-of-concept.
It was published in the journal PNAS Nexus as a part of the research.
UQ has developed this tool in collaboration with the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz in Brazil, led by Dr Rafael Maciel de Freitas, who has applied the tool to detect malaria in patients who live in the Amazon region, using the tool in the region as an effective tool to detect malaria in patients.
The work was funded by Fiocruz INOVA Ideias Inovadoras, Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e Tecnológico, Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and by Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
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