疟疾筛查器:利用智能手机技术自动化疟疾诊断

疟疾仍然是对人口健康的全球挑战,问题的规模是由于缺乏训练有素的人员和设备来加快资源有限设置中的诊断过程的驱动。自动化疟疾诊断的应用和过程的开发可能会规避这一障碍,从而可以更快地治疗患者。

2019年,官方谁报告说全球估计有2.29亿例疟疾病例。这些案件中约有90%,特别是恶性疟原虫occurred in Africa, where lack of access to malaria diagnosis is largely due to shortages of expertise and equipment. The non-specific symptoms with which malaria initially presents further exacerbate the diagnostic challenge as it means that laboratory confirmation is required. Although progress has been made during the last 10 years, there is currently no approved vaccination for malaria therefore rapid and early treatment with antimalarials and supportive management remains vital.

Particularly during the pandemic of COVID-19, traditional methods of diagnosis and screening have been subject to disruption. There are encouraging novel innovations arising in the world of malaria research, such as ‘疟疾筛选器’ a new smartphone application for automated malaria screening.

疟疾诊断的黄金标准目前仍是对染色的血液涂片的显微镜检查,因为它可以表征寄生虫物种,量化密度和治疗疗效的评估 - 但是,许多疟疾是特有的许多区域通常都缺乏训练的人员进行显微镜进行诊断。如今,由于易用性,快速诊断测试(RDT)的使用变得更加普遍 -a studyfound the sensitivity and specificity of these to be around 29% and 89% respectively, which highlights room for improvement.

疟疾Laboratory located inside Haiti’s National Public Health Lab, Laboratoire National de Santé Publique, situated in the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.学分:CDC

Yu及其同事提出了“疟疾筛选器”,这是一种基于智能手机的新型半自动化系统,可以分析疟疾筛查的图像,并结合使用用户友好的界面。该设置涉及与显微镜适配器结合使用的Android智能手机,是一种负担得起的设置,可以帮助资源有限的区域中的疟疾诊断。

该应用程序由幻灯片放映,数据管理和数据上传的三个独立模块组成,它们共同使用,以实现所需的功能 - 该应用程序设计为适应性和自定义,并在Github上托管了开源代码。此外,可以轻松地交换寄生虫检测算法 - 这确保了该研究领域的其他小组可以尝试其他算法和方法来推进疟疾诊断的自动化,从而是该地区未来发展的代码基础。

Another paper published in 2020由Kuo和台湾的团队制作。开发了一种疟疾检测算法,该算法能够在检测中实现专家级的性能恶性疟原虫在稀薄的血液涂片图像中 - 这进一步凸显了检测算法可能是发展自动疟疾诊断的关键。

Combining the high-resolution cameras and computing power of modern smartphones, Malaria Screener can screen both thin and thick blood smear images to identify恶性疟原虫parasites. The research team validated the smartphone application on blood smear images from 150 patients infected with恶性疟原虫, and 50 control patients in Bangladesh – at a patch level, the application was found to have 96.89% accuracy with 90.92% sensitivity and 97.43% specificity; whilst at patient level the accuracy was 78.00% and the sensitivity and specificity were respectively 79.33% and 74.00%. The development of Malaria Screener represents a step towards the potential automation of the diagnostic process in malaria through automation of light microscopy examination.

Two laboratory technicians with Haiti’s ministry of health (MoH), Mr. Dorelus and Mrs. Byzette, were processing blood samples in order to test for lymphatic filariasis (LF) and malaria, using rapid diagnostic tests in a rural classroom, located in the Nippes Department of Haiti. Credit:Alaine Kathryn Knipes/CDC

This may serve as a solution to improve point-of-care diagnosis of malaria in the field in resource-limited settings, through eliminating the need for highly trained personnel. The researchers also integrated additional functions within the app to support the daily work of malaria field workers such as the data management function, allowing them to enter patient information directly into the application database rather than having a separate system.

其他观察疟疾诊断系统自动化自动化的论文也表现出了希望,并且该领域进一步研究的重要性是开发新工具,以促进在获得医疗保健和实验室服务有限的地区快速,更容易诊断疟疾的诊断。Another study in 2016由葡萄牙的路易斯·罗萨多(LuísRosado)及其同事提出了一种使用监督分类的图像处理和分析方法的方法论恶性疟原虫in thick smears, using images acquired exclusively using low-cost tools such as smartphones.

Further文件have looked at the use of flow cytometry-based haematology analysers as an important adjuvant diagnostic tool in the routine laboratory work-up of febrile patients in or returning from malaria-endemic regions. Innovative diagnostic methodologies combining low-cost equipment maximising efficacy with algorithms for detection from images such as that used in Malaria Screener show potential for a future of automated malaria diagnostics, alleviating the need in resource-limited settings to train personnel and saving lives otherwise lost due to a dearth of equipment and staff to diagnose malaria rapidly and accurately.

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