Experts to develop mobile phone malaria detector

The University of Glasgow has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to further help in the diagnosis of malaria. The $100,000 award will go towards developing a device which uses mobile-phone derived technology that can detect and separate red blood cells infected with malaria parasites. It is hoped that if successful, devices based on the technology could be mass produced for rapid and accurate malaria diagnosis. The project team comprises Jon Cooper, Professor of Bioelectronics and Bioengineering of the College of Science and Engineering, Mike Barrett, Professor of Biochemical Parasitology and Senior Lecturer, Lisa Ranford-Cartwright, both of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences. The study will exploit Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWS) devices which are electronic components commonly found in TVs, mobile phones and other electronic display devices. Cooper has been using these acoustic devices to develop new technologies for medical diagnostics for a number of years. The Glasgow team now proposes to use SAWS to exert selective forces on malaria infected red blood cells to separate them from uninfected red cells.