We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Slide Reading Device Evaluated For Malaria

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 21 May 2012
Print article
A diagnostic system that evaluates scanned images of standard Giemsa-stained slides and reports species and parasitaemia has been appraised.

The device uses digital microscopes or imaging scanners to acquire the images that are stored and subsequently serve as the input for the algorithm to locate, identify and count the parasites.

An international team from the USA, UK, and Germany collaborated in the evaluation led by those at Hydas World Health, Hershey, PA, USA). The device was challenged with two independent tests: a 55 slide, expert slide reading test the composition of which is available from the World Health Organization ("WHO55" test, Geneva Switzerland), and a second test in which slides were made from a sample of consenting subjects participating in a malaria incidence survey conducted in Equatorial Guinea (EGMIS).

To use the World Health Technology (WHT; New Albany, OH 43054, USA) system, a slide is placed in the scanner or with an automated scanner many slides can be placed at one time, and the scanner captures images at the selected magnification. Localization, recognition and enumeration of the salient constituents of the scans, parasites and leucocytes, are based on pattern, color and shape recognition of parasites in red blood cells (RBCs) of a thin film and/or parasites that remain in a thick film after lysis of RBCs.

Two scanners were used for this study, IScan Coreo Gold (Ventana Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, USA) and a custom portable device made to WHT specifications called Doctor's Choice (Intracellular, Cincinnati, OH, USA). On the WHO55 test, the sensitivity was 89% and specificity was 70%. Species were correctly identified in 61% of the slides and the quantification of parasites fell within acceptable range of the validated parasitaemia in 10% of the cases. On the EGMIS test, it scored 100% sensitivity and 94% specificity, with 64% of the species correct and 45% of the parasitaemia within an acceptable range. A pooled analysis of the 174 slides used for both tests resulted in an overall 92% sensitivity and 90% specificity with 61% species and 19% quantifications correct.

The authors concluded that the device performs at a level comparable to that of many human slide readers. Because its use requires minimal additional equipment and it uses standard stained slides as starting material, its widespread adoption may eliminate the current uncertainty about the quality of microscopic diagnoses. The study was published on May 6, 2012, in the Malaria Journal.

Related Links:
Hydas World Health
World Health Organization
World Health Technology



Gold Member
Pharmacogenetics Panel
VeriDose Core Panel v2.0
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
HIV-1 Test
HIV-1 Real Time RT-PCR Kit
New
Auto Clinical Chemistry Analyzer
cobas c 703

Print article

Channels

Molecular Diagnostics

view channel
Image: Researcher Kanta Horie places a sample in a mass spectrometer that measures protein levels in blood plasma and other fluids (Photo courtesy of WashU Medicine)

Highly Accurate Blood Test Diagnoses Alzheimer’s and Measures Dementia Progression

Several blood tests are currently available to assist doctors in diagnosing Alzheimer's disease in individuals experiencing cognitive symptoms. However, these tests do not provide insights into the clinical... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The findings were based on patients from the ADAURA clinical trial of the targeted therapy osimertinib for patients with NSCLC with EGFR-activated mutations (Photo courtesy of YSM Multimedia Team)

Post-Treatment Blood Test Could Inform Future Cancer Therapy Decisions

In the ongoing advancement of personalized medicine, a new study has provided evidence supporting the use of a tool that detects cancer-derived molecules in the blood of lung cancer patients years after... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.