HLS-Highly-Sensitive, One-minute, Portable Diagnostic for Malaria Elimination

Project SummaryWhile the mosquito borne illness malariais entirely preventable and treatablecountries are currently plagued by malaria transmission and half the world s population is at risk of malariaA great deal of progress has been made against malaria as a result of the massive rollout of resources and technology focused on malaria controlThirty five of theaffected countriesincluding China and Indiaare now focusing on reaching malaria elimination byTo be successfully eliminate malaria these countries need to reach out and screen populations and treat malaria in remote areasin communitiesand along bordersTodayeliminating malaria is hindered because of the lack of a portable diagnostic screening tool that s capable of quickly detecting all types of malariaeven at very low levels of infectionStudies have demonstrated that interrupting transmission requires a focus on identification of all parasite carriersboth symptomatic and asymptomaticCurrent field based diagnosticslight microscopy and RDTsare not sensitive enough for this task and molecular diagnosticsLAMP and PCRlack the affordabilityportabilityand high throughputThe goal of this project is to develop and test an affordableportableone minutehighly sensitive malaria diagnostic device that accelerates efforts to eliminate malariaA multidisciplinary team developed magneto optical detectionMODwhich finds malaria using the biomarker hemozoinUsing hemozoinit is able to accurately detect all five species of malaria including those with HRPdeletion and is sensitive even at very low concentrations of parasitesMOD is ideal for diagnostic screening to aid elimination effortsIt is a ruggedportable device that can be easily used by entry level healthcare workers anywhereIn one minute it provides accurate results on all species atX the sensitivity of microscopy and it is highly affordable at $testIn this Phase II project the team will advance the product towards commercialization by finalizing the product design with end user inputconducting bench testing to characterize performanceand performing validation testing in multiple field settings including PeruKenya and IndiaThe overall objective is to support developing country teamsin their move towards malaria eliminationby producing the tool they need to quickly identify and treat malaria everywhere