An Automated Microscopic Malaria Parasite Detection System Using Digital Image Analysis
Rapid diagnosis and parasitemia measurement is crucial for management of malaria. Microscopic examination of peripheral blood (PB) smears is the gold standard for malaria detection. However, this method is labor-intensive. Here, we aimed to develop a completely automated microscopic system for malar...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-03-01
|
Series: | Diagnostics |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/11/3/527 |
id |
doaj-d904867083bf43609a57352964f176ad |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-d904867083bf43609a57352964f176ad2021-03-17T00:03:58ZengMDPI AGDiagnostics2075-44182021-03-011152752710.3390/diagnostics11030527An Automated Microscopic Malaria Parasite Detection System Using Digital Image AnalysisJung Yoon0Woong Sik Jang1Jeonghun Nam2Do-CiC Mihn3Chae Seung Lim4Department of Laboratory Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 08308, KoreaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 08308, KoreaDepartment of Song-Do Bio-Environmental Engineering, Incheon Jaeneung University, Incheon 21987, KoreaDepartment of Diagnostic Immunology, Seegene Medical Foundation, Seoul 04805, KoreaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 08308, KoreaRapid diagnosis and parasitemia measurement is crucial for management of malaria. Microscopic examination of peripheral blood (PB) smears is the gold standard for malaria detection. However, this method is labor-intensive. Here, we aimed to develop a completely automated microscopic system for malaria detection and parasitemia measurement. The automated system comprises a microscope, plastic chip, fluorescent dye, and an image analysis program. Analytical performance was evaluated regarding linearity, precision, and limit of detection and was compared with that of conventional microscopic PB smear examination and flow cytometry. The automated microscopic malaria parasite detection system showed a high degree of linearity for <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> culture (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.958, <i>p</i> = 0.005) and <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> infected samples (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.931, <i>p</i> = 0.008). Precision was defined as the %CV of the assay results at each level of parasitemia and the %CV value for our system was lower than that for microscopic examination for all densities of parasitemia. The limit of detection analysis showed 95% probability for parasite detection was 0.00066112%, and a high correlation was observed among all three methods. The sensitivity and specificity of the system was both 100% (<i>n</i> = 21/21) and 100% (<i>n</i> = 50/50), respectively, and the system correctly identified all <i>P. vivax</i> and <i>P. falciparum</i> samples. The automated microscopic malaria parasite detection system offers several advantages over conventional microscopy for rapid diagnosis and parasite density monitoring of malaria.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/11/3/527malariamicroscopyparasitemiaautomation<i>P. falciparum</i><i>P. vivax</i> |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jung Yoon Woong Sik Jang Jeonghun Nam Do-CiC Mihn Chae Seung Lim |
spellingShingle |
Jung Yoon Woong Sik Jang Jeonghun Nam Do-CiC Mihn Chae Seung Lim An Automated Microscopic Malaria Parasite Detection System Using Digital Image Analysis Diagnostics malaria microscopy parasitemia automation <i>P. falciparum</i> <i>P. vivax</i> |
author_facet |
Jung Yoon Woong Sik Jang Jeonghun Nam Do-CiC Mihn Chae Seung Lim |
author_sort |
Jung Yoon |
title |
An Automated Microscopic Malaria Parasite Detection System Using Digital Image Analysis |
title_short |
An Automated Microscopic Malaria Parasite Detection System Using Digital Image Analysis |
title_full |
An Automated Microscopic Malaria Parasite Detection System Using Digital Image Analysis |
title_fullStr |
An Automated Microscopic Malaria Parasite Detection System Using Digital Image Analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
An Automated Microscopic Malaria Parasite Detection System Using Digital Image Analysis |
title_sort |
automated microscopic malaria parasite detection system using digital image analysis |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Diagnostics |
issn |
2075-4418 |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
Rapid diagnosis and parasitemia measurement is crucial for management of malaria. Microscopic examination of peripheral blood (PB) smears is the gold standard for malaria detection. However, this method is labor-intensive. Here, we aimed to develop a completely automated microscopic system for malaria detection and parasitemia measurement. The automated system comprises a microscope, plastic chip, fluorescent dye, and an image analysis program. Analytical performance was evaluated regarding linearity, precision, and limit of detection and was compared with that of conventional microscopic PB smear examination and flow cytometry. The automated microscopic malaria parasite detection system showed a high degree of linearity for <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> culture (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.958, <i>p</i> = 0.005) and <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> infected samples (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.931, <i>p</i> = 0.008). Precision was defined as the %CV of the assay results at each level of parasitemia and the %CV value for our system was lower than that for microscopic examination for all densities of parasitemia. The limit of detection analysis showed 95% probability for parasite detection was 0.00066112%, and a high correlation was observed among all three methods. The sensitivity and specificity of the system was both 100% (<i>n</i> = 21/21) and 100% (<i>n</i> = 50/50), respectively, and the system correctly identified all <i>P. vivax</i> and <i>P. falciparum</i> samples. The automated microscopic malaria parasite detection system offers several advantages over conventional microscopy for rapid diagnosis and parasite density monitoring of malaria. |
topic |
malaria microscopy parasitemia automation <i>P. falciparum</i> <i>P. vivax</i> |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/11/3/527 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT jungyoon anautomatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT woongsikjang anautomatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT jeonghunnam anautomatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT docicmihn anautomatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT chaeseunglim anautomatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT jungyoon automatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT woongsikjang automatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT jeonghunnam automatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT docicmihn automatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis AT chaeseunglim automatedmicroscopicmalariaparasitedetectionsystemusingdigitalimageanalysis |
_version_ |
1724219147908284416 |