New malaria tool is quick and noninvasive
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028980
New Scientist : Researchers have developed a new diagnostic tool that can quickly detect malaria without the need to draw blood. The device delivers a short laser pulse through the patient’s skin. If hemozoin, the waste product formed by certain blood-feeding parasites, is present, it will absorb the laser’s energy. That energy causes the nearby blood plasma to warm and form bubbles, which can then be detected by an oscilloscope. The researchers have found that the device even works on dead mosquitoes. Because malaria threatens half the world’s population, predominantly in poorer areas, such a simple, fast, and inexpensive tool could help speed diagnosis and treatment and slow the spread of the disease. The research team next plans to field-test the device in Africa.
