Researchers from Rice University reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences a non-invasive laser-based method to rapidly detect malaria infections as low as 0.00034% in mice.
Current malaria detection methods rely on blood samples, qualified personnel and specific reagents. Using a short laser pulse to generate a transient vapor “nanobubble” around the hemozoin (a product of parasitic hemoglobin digestion) inside malaria-infected red blood cells, researchers were able to detect a unique acoustic pattern when the nanobubble burst. While this method has not yet been approved for human use, this rapid, highly specific and very sensitive malaria detection method may not only prove valuable to malaria-endemic regions of the world, but it may also lead to safer blood supplies around the globe. Currently in the US, travelers to an area with malaria are deferred from donating blood for one year, but a new highly specific and sensitive malaria detection method may allow this policy to be re-visited.
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