Fighting Malaria with a Cellphone
November 9, 2012
Malaria takes nearly one million lives per year and half the world’s population is at risk. This disease is spread through mosquitoes and is one of Africa’s most lethal diseases.
To help fight this disease, BGU researcher Dr. Alberto Bilenca is developing a fast, low-cost device to accurately diagnose malaria without the need for blood collection in field settings.
It uses a standard camera cellphone and a red laser pointer that can noninvasively obtain finger blood perfusion images with excellent resolution and contrast in less than second.
“You have to hold the cellphone camera and capture an image of the tissue you would like to test. By looking at the blood flow and the malaric pigment, you’d be able to diagnose and monitor the severity of this disease,” says Dr. Bilenca.
Dr. Bilenca has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop this potentially lifesaving device.
View a video about this global health innovation on Reuters >>
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