Advanced functionality of fully automatic diagnostic equipment for malaria elimination

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K07532
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 49040:Parasitology-related
• Research Institution: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Muneaki Hashimoto 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, 生命工学領域, 主任研究員 (30407308)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: マラリア / 検査

Outline of Final Research Achievements

For the elimination of malaria, the development of ultra-sensitive diagnostic devices that can be used in endemic areas is desired. Applicants have developed a Malaria Cell Disc system (MCD) that enables easy, rapid, sensitive and quantitative diagnosis in endemic areas. The MCD consists of a dedicated cassette and an image reader. Several million red blood cells are arranged in a single layer in the cassette detection unit, and the image reader detects the protozoa and automatically calculates the infection rate. In this study, it was suggested that it is possible to identify and stably detect protozoan species by improving the functionality of MCD while maintaining the detection sensitivity.

Free Research Field

熱帯医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は申請者らが独自開発したマラリア診断デバイス（MCD）をさらに改良・発展させ、マラリアの撲滅を考えると極めて重要な原虫種の同定（三日熱マラリアと熱帯熱マラリアの鑑別診断）および薬剤耐性試験を超高感度かつ流行地でも安定に診断できるデバイスの作製を目的とした。本デバイスは流行地での使用を強く意識して作製したものであり、ポータブルかつ易操作、完全自動化で、技師によって結果にばらつきがないため、次世代のゴールドスタンダードになると期待している。