This Device Will Detect Malaria in 5sec. Coming to NIgeria Soon!

A mechanical student who holds a PhD, John Lewandowski at MIT has built a device called RAM (Random Assessment of Malaria)

This device quickly detects Malaria within  5 seconds.

Malaria is a deadly disease which affects about 200 million people every year. Regardless of its being curable and preventable, the World Health Organization counts 438,000 lives lost in 2015. Africa had most lost.

John Lewandowski said  early detection is really of great importance. This device uses a drop of blood to detect malaria within 5 seconds.

Owing to the fact that many rural areas especially in Africa and Asia do not have adequate medical infrastructure for microscopic tests, and the diagnostic test that can't even detect malaria infection in the very early stages, this device is a lifesaving one.

The device is cheaper and quicker. The RAM is battery-operated, costs about $100 to $120, and is made from low-cost materials. The plastic box (measuring 4x4 inches) has a small circuit board, a few magnets and a laser on the inside. On the outside is an LCD screen, an SD card slot and a plastic disposable cuvette.

Malaria parasites create in the human blood iron crystals that are magnetic in nature.

"As an engineer, I thought about creating a way to detect these magnetic crystals quickly,"  Lewandowski said.

You take a finger prick of blood and insert it into the box through the cuvette. If the malaria parasite is present, the magnets draw the iron crystals horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The laser helps identify the pattern and diagnose the disease. (If the disease isn't present, no crystals form.)


Since 2013, Disease Diagnostic Group has tested the RAM device in clinical trials in India.
"In India, the field study of 250 patients showed a 93% to 97% accuracy," Lewandowski said, adding that a new field study will launch this summer in Nigeria with up to 5,000 patients.




Source: CNN Money



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