In the recently published ‘Smartphone-based diagnosis of parasitic infections with colorimetric assays in centrifuge tubes,’ international researchers from Spain and the UK explore better ways to diagnose medical conditions in developing countries with few resources for such tools.
Although billions of consumers are using smartphones today, in nearly every recess of the world, most of us rarely take true stock of the power we are holding in the palms of our hands. These devices that carry so much of our personal information and may only be used for sending a few texts or making a few calls each day are actually powerful microprocessors capable of performing a vast number of complex—and extremely helpful—tasks, as well as sharing enormous amounts of data.
Here, the authors put the smartphone to the test for diagnosing parasitic infections, opening our eyes to what a critical role the camera can play in bioanalytical and diagnosis applications. Focusing on the diagnosis of Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, the team explains that these illnesses can be severe—and so much so that they are responsible for making millions of people sick. With the development of an affordable, easy-to-use colorimetric assay for diagnostics of Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, the researchers hope to make an impact of more remote areas of numerous countries.
“In this study, the proposed smartphone-based diagnostic platform has been shown to be capable of making analysis of millimetric colorimetric arrays, as those fitting into the Spin-Tube. Although in the case of the Spin-Tube platform published by our group recently, where the spot pattern recognition was undertaken by naked-eye (due the simplicity of the colorimetric pattern to needing to be analyzed), further development of an automatized image capture system, such as a smartphone is an attractive option,” state the researchers.
This innovative new device offers the following advantages for patients, technicians, and doctors:
- Reduction in human error as many staff may be untrained
- Creation of a permanent record for doctors to review as necessary
- Enabling of quantitative assessments through spot color intensity measurement
The authors also 3D printed an affordable accessory made of plastic for adding illumination. A software program was also programmed for the smartphone, sensing color-coordinates of circular-shaped spots in each array pattern.
“The app consists of several screens that guide the user through the steps required for the acquisition and processing of a test result image,” explained the researchers.
Numerous tests were performed to evaluate system performance, verify the application overall, including testing its limits.
“This system has been tested for detection of parasitic diseases of the family Trypanosomiases, which are responsible for devastating diseases in humans, dogs as well as livestock. In this context, the smartphone-based platform that has been developed analyses the image and converts the panel of spots into a Trypanosomatid species,” concluded the researchers. “Given the importance of such assays in developing countries, the mobile phone imager application has been designed to be especially user-friendly for its use by untrained personnel. Recorded results can be immediately transmitted to reference clinicians from remote locations for advice and treatment decisions.”
Smartphone devices have been developed for a wide range of applications so far, many of which are helpful to medical professionals and patients in developing areas, from testing for malaria to high blood pressure, and even diagnostics for pancreatic cancer.
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[Source / Images: ‘Smartphone-based diagnosis of parasitic infections with colorimetric assays in centrifuge tubes’]
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