A Smartphone-based point-of-care Sensor for Rapid and Sensitive Detection of Malaria in Low-Resource Applications

The wide availability of rapidfield portablelow costand sensitive molecular diagnostic for point of care detection of malaria parasites would have a significant benefit for intervention programs aimed at eliminating malaria in affected populationsMalaria remains one of the most serious infectious diseases in low income countriesthreatening nearly half of the world s population and causing an estimatedtodeaths per yearAlthough containment strategies have led to a significant decline in deathsthe emergence of drug resistant Pfalciparum strains threatens to reverse this trendCurrentlyhealth workers test for infections by rapid diagnostic tests or light microscopy examination of blood smearsThese widely used methods have poor sensitivitythus failing to identify a significant population of individuals with asymptomatic infections that contribute to continued malaria transmissionThe availability of more sensitive tests would help health workers identify more infectious individuals and improve outcomes for malaria interventionTo address this needGinerIncproposes to develop an electrochemicalmobile phone integrated diagnostic device for rapid and sensitive detection of pan Plasmodium and Plasmodium falciparum in bloodThis low cost and field portable sensor will be designed for point of care detections in resourcelimited settings