Automating blood smears for easier malaria diagnosis
Device removes one of the biggest bottlenecks preventing quick, reliable malaria diagnosis

Date:
January 18, 2022
Source:
American Institute of Physics
Summary:
Researchers have developed devices to automate blood smears. Their
devices, called autohaem smear and smear+, can consistently create
high- quality smears equivalent to those created by human experts,
automating the smearing process so every smear is correct and
consistent. A key goal of the project was to make the devices
accessible to as many people as possible, so the researchers
designed their devices to be easy to build, using readily available
or 3D-printed components.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
One of the key steps in diagnosing or treating many bloodborne diseases
is to perform a blood smear, where a drop of blood is spread across a microscope slide for analysis. It is critical the technician collecting
the sample perform this smear correctly and consistently, but mistakes
at this stage are easy to make and often result in useless samples.


========================================================================== InReview of Scientific Instruments, by AIP Publishing, researchers
from Cambridge University, Bath University, and the Ifakara Health
Institute developed devices to automate blood smears. Their devices,
called autohaem smear and smear+, can consistently create high-quality
smears equivalent to those created by human experts.

"Creating blood smears is a laborious, repetitive task that requires
an expert level of skill and manual dexterity," said author Samuel
McDermott. "By using automated blood smearing machines, such as autohaem devices, technicians will be able to increase their throughput while maintaining a high enough quality for diagnosis." The researchers'
primary focus is on diagnosis of malaria, a deadly disease that kills
more than 400,000 people every year. Malaria is best diagnosed by
analyzing blood smears through a microscope. While performing research
for a previous study, they noticed many of these testing smears were of
poor quality.

"In some countries, up to 81.5% of blood smears are prepared incorrectly,"
said McDermott. "If a blood smear is prepared incorrectly, when examined
under a microscope, the technician will struggle to make a correct
diagnosis. Because these smears are often made in a rural clinic and sent
to a regional facility for examination, any issues in the smear could
cause days of delay." Their solution, the autohaem devices, solves this problem by automating the smearing process so every smear is correct
and consistent. The devices come in two varieties, the autohaem smear
and the autohaem smear+, the latter of which is fully automated with a motorized smearing mechanism. In tests, inexperienced technicians were
able to use the device to produce expert-quality smears.

A key goal of the project was to make the autohaem devices accessible
to as many people as possible. The researchers designed their
devices to be easy to build, using readily available or 3D-printed
components. Furthermore, all software and hardware are open-source and
freely available.

The next step for the researchers is to test out their design in
real-world conditions, thanks to their colleagues at the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania.

"They will be able to manufacture and use the devices as part of
their research," said McDermott. "We will be able to use their
feedback to improve the design of the device for rural clinics." ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Institute_of_Physics. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Samuel McDermott, Jaehyeon Kim, Aikaterini Anna Leledaki, Duncan
Parry,
Louis Lee, Alexandre Kabla, Catherine Mkindi, Richard Bowman, Pietro
Cicuta. autohaem: 3D printed devices for automated preparation
of blood smears. Review of Scientific Instruments, 2022; 93 (1):
014104 DOI: 10.1063/5.0076901 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220118111356.htm

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