SBIR Phase II: Microelectrochemical Assays for Malaria Parasites

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project focuses on the development of an automated, high-throughput, sensitive and specific assay for the micorelectrochemical detection of malaria parasites. The use of microelectrochemical assay will allow for the detection of malarial parasites with a combination of attributes, such as all four species to the level of one parasite per microliter of blood without sample preparation. This technology will impact the current blood donor screening guidelines that call for the deferral of potential donors for one year following travel to malaria endemic regions. Not only do cases of fatal transfusion-transmitted malaria occasionally occur, but also the availability of the blood supply is reduced. This technology will aid the blood banking industry by providing an inexpensive, high-throughput, low detection limit malaria test as blood donor screening tool.