Saturday, March 18, 2023
News on Pathogens and Preparedness
Global Biodefense
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Global Biodefense
No Result
View All Result
Home Biosecurity

Smart Phone Microscope Rapidly Detects Parasites

by Global Biodefense Staff
May 18, 2015
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues have developed a mobile phone microscope to measure blood levels of the parasitic filarial worm Loa loa.

The point-of-care device may enable safe resumption of mass drug administration campaigns to eradicate the parasitic diseases onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis).

Efforts to eliminate these diseases in Central Africa through community-wide administration of antiparasitic drugs have been suspended due to potentially fatal drug-associated side effects in people with high blood levels of Loa microfilariae, the filarial worm’s larval form. A potential solution is to identify and exclude such people from mass drug administration. However, standard methods for measuring microfilariae are time-consuming and must be performed by trained personnel with laboratory equipment.

To rapidly screen for Loa infections in community settings, the scientists developed CellScope Loa, a video microscope integrating an Apple iPhone 5s. With the help of a custom iPhone app, the device automatically captures and analyzes videos of the characteristic “wriggling” motion of microfilariae, enabling quantification of microfilariae in blood from a finger prick in less than two minutes. No special preparation of the blood is required, limiting potential error and sample loss, and healthcare workers need minimal training to use the automated device.

Screening of blood samples from potentially Loa-infected people under field conditions in Cameroon, Africa, showed that CellScope Loa results correspond well to those obtained by standard methods, correctly identifying people with microfilarial levels over a certain threshold. Although additional work is needed to prepare the technology for broad use, the researchers predict that a team of three workers could screen up to 200 people during the four-hour midday window when Loa circulates at its peak in the blood.

Read more: Point-of-care quantification of blood-borne filarial parasites with a mobile phone microscope.

Tags: POC Diagnostics

Related Posts

Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions
Pathogens

Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions

January 25, 2023
DARPA Selects Teams to Develop Vaccine Durability Prediction Model
Medical Countermeasures

DARPA Selects Teams to Develop Vaccine Durability Prediction Model

January 13, 2023
The device appears smaller than a playing card, transparent, with visible channels branching off.
Medical Countermeasures

How Organ-on-a-chip Models Could Grease the Drug Development Pipeline

January 10, 2023
DARPA Pursues Advanced Threat-Detection for Crop Defense
Biosecurity

DARPA Pursues Advanced Threat-Detection for Crop Defense

January 3, 2023
Load More

Latest News

Biodefense Headlines – 12 March 2023

Biodefense Headlines – 12 March 2023

March 12, 2023
Partner Therapeutics’ Novel Approach to Stratify Sepsis Patients Gains Backing From BARDA

Biopreparedness Research Virtual Environment (BRaVE) Initiative Backed by $105M DOE Funding

January 25, 2023
Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions

Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions

January 25, 2023
Biodefense Headlines – 24 January 2023

Biodefense Headlines – 24 January 2023

January 24, 2023

Subscribe

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC