Development of a quantitative, portable, and automated fluorescent blue-ray device-based malaria diagnostic equipment with an on-disc SiO2 nanofiber filter

Sci Rep. 2020 Apr 20;10(1):6585. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-63615-2.

Abstract

There is an urgent need to develop an automated malaria diagnostic system that can easily and rapidly detect malaria parasites and determine the proportion of malaria-infected erythrocytes in the clinical blood samples. In this study, we developed a quantitative, mobile, and fully automated malaria diagnostic system equipped with an on-disc SiO2 nanofiber filter and blue-ray devices. The filter removes the leukocytes and platelets from the blood samples, which interfere with the accurate detection of malaria by the blue-ray devices. We confirmed that the filter, which can be operated automatically by centrifugal force due to the rotation of the disc, achieved a high removal rate of leukocytes (99.7%) and platelets (90.2%) in just 30 s. The automated system exhibited a higher sensitivity (100%) and specificity (92.8%) for detecting Plasmodium falciparum from the blood of 274 asymptomatic individuals in Kenya when compared to the common rapid diagnosis test (sensitivity = 98.1% and specificity = 54.8%). This indicated that this system can be a potential alternative to conventional methods used at local health facilities, which lack basic infrastructure.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Blood Platelets / parasitology
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Diagnostic Tests, Routine / methods*
  • Erythrocytes / parasitology
  • Female
  • Fluorescence
  • Humans
  • Kenya / epidemiology
  • Leukocytes / parasitology
  • Malaria, Falciparum / blood*
  • Malaria, Falciparum / epidemiology
  • Malaria, Falciparum / parasitology
  • Male
  • Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / methods*
  • Nanofibers / chemistry
  • Plasmodium falciparum / isolation & purification*
  • Plasmodium falciparum / pathogenicity
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Silicon Dioxide / chemistry

Substances

  • Silicon Dioxide