Diagnosis of Malaria: Using Mobile Phones

It is a known fact that malaria is one of the most fatal and dreaded disease in the world, with more than over two million casualties worldwide last year, the Sub Saharan regions and the Indian subcontinent among the worst affected. Scientists and researchers are doing all they can to combat this disease and they have been successful in their endeavours to a great extent. Their efforts were rewarded when researchers in California created genetically modified mosquito stains which render the mosquitoes ineffective as a host body.

This breakthrough has the potential to save millions of lives. However, to successfully implement this technique ,there's still work to be done. One of the major roadblocks that the WHO faces is the successful implantation of the techniques developed by the researchers in the third world countries. Reasearch has revealed that almost one third deaths in these countries is either due to lack of proper treatment on time or the inability to diagnose the disease. This was a major crisis as modern diagnostic techniques involve use of bulky and expensive equipment and require sophisticated maintainance .

However, the good news is that biomedical engineers working in Texas AnM university have developed a new technology that transforms a cell phone into a mobile polarized microscope which can diagnose malaria with the same accuracy as a high tech lab in a major Western city. This portable technology which can be fitted into a cell phone is a far cry from the diagnosing microscope used now which is relatively complicated to use requires someone to monitor and maintain it and also have the facility of a tech lab to use it.Comparatively ,the add on device, known as a mobile optical polarisation imaging device (MOPID), makes use of a smart phones camera features to produce high resolution images of the objects 10 times smaller than the thickness of the human hair.

A blood sample from the person is used and is imaged using polarised light that can detect a malarial parasite byproduct called hemozin crystals which appear as bright dots in the image and are an accurate indicator of the infection. The envisioned final product can be made available to multiple commercially available phones to provide an attachment to users existing phone platforms .The application also recognises the different stages of the parasites and calculates the parasitemia which is a measures of the extent of infection.

This technology, if implemented successfully by researchers ,who plan to test it in Rwanda next year,is successful then it will surely be a huge boost to the third world countries. Also researchers have tried to make this product as cost effective as possible .Smartphones are widely available in these countries and the add on device would cost less than dollar 50, with the disposable blood sample cartridges priced at less than a dollar. Also ,another significant advantage of this is that there are no ethical implications involved,which is generally the case in most of medical breakthroughs.

This technology is another step taken by us in complete eradication of this deadly disease.It is a standing testimony to the diligence and dedication of those selfless servants of humanity ,without which this could never have happened.We must truly respect these  researchers and everyone associated, who dedicate their entire lives to make this world a better and safer place to live in.