Rapid Diagnostic for Point-of-Care Malaria Screening

Abstract

Despite significant success in therapeutic development, malaria remains a widespread and deadly infectious disease in the developing world. Given the nearly 100% efficacy of current malaria therapeutics, the primary barrier to eradication is lack of early diagnosis of the infected population. However, there are multiple strains of malaria. Although significant efforts and resources have been invested in developing antibody-based diagnostic methods for Plasmodium falciparum, a rapid and easy to use screening method capable of detecting all malaria strains has not been realized. Yet, until the entire malaria-infected population receives treatment, the disease will continue to impact society. Here, we report the development of a portable, magneto-optic technology for early stage malaria diagnosis based on the detection of the malaria pigment, hemozoin. Using β-hematin, a hemozoin mimic, we demonstrate detection limits of <0.0081 μg/mL in 500 μL of whole rabbit blood with no additional reagents required. This level corresponds to <26 parasites/μL, a full order of magnitude below clinical relevance and comparable to or less than existing technologies.

Engineering photonics solutions for COVID-19

“…For example, optical biosensing methods have increased the precision and accuracy of disease diagnosis, optical detectors have enabled disease progression monitoring, and laser-based treatments and therapeutics have improved the therapeutic efficacy and shortened recovery times. 34–38 In the context of COVID-19, many existing technologies have been rapidly re-configured and applied for both diagnostics in a healthcare setting and at-home monitoring of disease progression.…”

“…A prominent area in integrated photonics focuses on the development of biological and chemical sensors for diagnostics for a wide range of diseases. 34,37,47,67–71 Unlike the methods already discussed, the emerging technologies directly leverage light–matter interactions in the detection mechanism and have the possibility of being integrated with microfluidics for high-throughput sample delivery and analysis. High-throughput or multiplexing capability is of particular interest given diagnostic test shortages faced early on in the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

An examination of nurse‐authored patents: Implications for nursing practice

“…Anecdotally, nonnurses (eg, physician‐researchers, scientists, and engineers) are predominantly recognized as responsible for medical inventions and innovations 1 . As a recent example illustrates, McBirney et al 19 and Viterbi Staff, 20 a team of engineers at the University of Southern California developed a new, noninvasive, low‐cost and rapid turn‐around time malaria detection technology. Therefore, not only is it important to examine formally the extent to which nurses have been engaged in medical inventions and innovations, but it is crucial to identify paths to encourage these front‐line healthcare providers to become more involved.…”

Can Plasmodium’s tricks for enhancing its transmission be turned against the parasite? New hopes for vector control

“…This technique, in combination with hyper-spectral processing, enables imaging and diagnosis of early stage malaria parasites at the single cell level in a blood smear [81]. The next one is magneto-optic technology which is also used for early stage malaria diagnosis in human based on the detection of the malaria pigment, hemozoin [82]. These methods will be challenging; however, recent advances suggest that they may be a possibility in the foreseeable future.…”