New technique can detect malaria more quickly in developing world

Inside a hospital lab, malaria is very easy to detect. Unfortunantly, malaria is primarily found in developing countries and poorer areas of the world where clinical access is either limited or non-existent. To solve this problem, researchers from Duke University have developed a fully automated system that can be used in these countries to detect malaria with only a small prick of blood.

Currently, the main way of identifying malaria is by using standard microscopy, a process of staining, preparing, and visualizing the cells in a lab, which can be very time consuming. With this new technique, potentially thousands of cells can be screened per minute and entire villages can possibly be tested within a day.

Using quantitative phase spectroscopy, a laser changes color as it shines on the cell. A sensor then detects how the cell is being affected and the data is bought together to create a holographic image. An algorithm then looks at correlations between 1,000 examples of healthy and unhealthy cells to determine which ones have malaria. The system has an accuracy rate between 97 and 100 percent.