Diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium infection with a mobile phone-mounted Foldscope and a reversed-lens CellScope in Ghana

Richard K D Ephraim; Evans Duah; James S Cybulski; Manu Prakash; Michael V D'Ambrosio; Daniel A Fletcher; Jennifer Keiser; Jason R Andrews; Isaac I Bogoch

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0741

Diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium infection with a mobile phone-mounted Foldscope and a reversed-lens CellScope in Ghana

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Jun;92(6):1253-6. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0741. Epub 2015 Apr 27.

Authors

Richard K D Ephraim¹, Evans Duah¹, James S Cybulski¹, Manu Prakash¹, Michael V D'Ambrosio¹, Daniel A Fletcher¹, Jennifer Keiser¹, Jason R Andrews¹, Isaac I Bogoch²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Medical Laboratory Technology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California; Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Divisions of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Division of Medical Laboratory Technology, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California; Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California; Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; Divisions of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada isaac.bogoch@uhn.ca.

Abstract

We evaluated two novel, portable microscopes and locally acquired, single-ply, paper towels as filter paper for the diagnosis of Schistosoma haematobium infection. The mobile phone-mounted Foldscope and reversed-lens CellScope had sensitivities of 55.9% and 67.6%, and specificities of 93.3% and 100.0%, respectively, compared with conventional light microscopy for diagnosing S. haematobium infection. With conventional light microscopy, urine filtration using single-ply paper towels as filter paper showed a sensitivity of 67.6% and specificity of 80.0% compared with centrifugation for the diagnosis of S. haematobium infection. With future improvements to diagnostic sensitivity, newer generation handheld and mobile phone microscopes may be valuable tools for global health applications.

Publication types

Evaluation Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Animals
Cell Phone*
Centrifugation
Child
Ghana
Humans
Microscopy / instrumentation
Microscopy / methods*
Parasite Egg Count
Schistosoma haematobium*
Schistosomiasis haematobia / diagnosis*
Schistosomiasis haematobia / urine
Sensitivity and Specificity