Turn your smartphone into a microscope to detect parasites

An international research team on May 6 said it has successfully developed a phone microscope capable of quickly and accurately detecting parasitic parasites in the blood. If completed, it may help to eradicate common diseases in the tropics that have not been given adequate attention.

Smartphone incorporates microscopic detection of parasites

Researcher Daniel Fletcher, an expert at the University of California, said this is the first time a device has incorporated imaging technology with hardware and software automation to create a solution. comprehensive diagnosis.

Illustration.(Source: popsci)

According to the study published in the journal "Scientific Translational Medicine" (American Translational Medicine) of the United States, in tropical climates, diseases often caused by parasites such as river blindness (river blindness) or elephantiasis.

Current medicine often uses a drug called "ivermectin" to treat and control these two diseases. However, "ivermectin " is dangerous to treat people infected with the " Speaker " parasite, the cause of African fasciitis (loiasis).

The patient may have brain damage and even death. In some parts of West and Central Africa, where the "Loudspeaker" infection is quite common, the use of "ivermectin" has been stopped and caused millions of people to be infected with the two diseases.

One proposed option is to identify and isolate infected people "Speaker speakers". However, the standard test method now requires a microscope to count parasites in blood samples and need at least a day to complete.

To solve this problem, the team developed " CellScope Speaker ", a video microscope attached to the iPhone 5s phone. With the help of a special iPhone application, this device automatically records and analyzes tapes to find parasite larvae movements, allowing them to determine their number in blood samples. in just 2 minutes.

When testing 33 suspected cases of "Loudspeaker " in Cameroon, the new device gives exactly the same results as standard microscopes.

Although further research is needed, experts believe that with this new device, a group of 3 medical staff can test up to 200 people within 4 hours. The team is currently expanding the "CellScope Speaker" application to about 40,000 people in Cameroon.

This study involved experts from the US National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Allergies and collaborators in Cameroon and France.