Researchers from Rice University have now developed a surprisingly simple, needle-free way to diagnose malaria. They show that short laser pulses (at a safe intensity level) can easily identify red blood cells infected with malaria parasites through the skin. This is because the parasites form nanoparticles, called hemozoins, and when these are hit by a laser pulse, they absorb the energy by making tiny short-lived vapour bubbles. The acoustic signal produced by a bursting nanobubble can be rapidly detected. The researchers find that this technique can identify very low levels of infection, down to individual parasites, and that it does not give any false positives. One device should be able to screen up to 200,000 people per year, with the cost of diagnosis estimated to be below 50 US cents.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 01:03:51 +0000