5 min
The Ugandan Inventor Behind Bloodless Malaria Diagnosis Five Minutes | Exclusive Malaria Interviews
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- Government
When testing for malaria, there are two primary options: lab-based diagnosis and RTDs, Rapid Diagnostic Tests. There are pros and cons with each.
Lab-based diagnosis, whilst accurate, require expert training and a well-equipped lab, which may not be available in low-resource settings. RTDs, whilst portable and inexpensive, are not always accurate, reporting false positives and false negatives.
But both of these methods require a blood sample from the patient. This in itself poses many risks; bruising, swelling and even infection.
One of the new methods of malaria diagnosis in development does not require a blood sample - the so-called Matiscope by Brian Gitta, a Ugandan inventor.
When testing for malaria, there are two primary options: lab-based diagnosis and RTDs, Rapid Diagnostic Tests. There are pros and cons with each.
Lab-based diagnosis, whilst accurate, require expert training and a well-equipped lab, which may not be available in low-resource settings. RTDs, whilst portable and inexpensive, are not always accurate, reporting false positives and false negatives.
But both of these methods require a blood sample from the patient. This in itself poses many risks; bruising, swelling and even infection.
One of the new methods of malaria diagnosis in development does not require a blood sample - the so-called Matiscope by Brian Gitta, a Ugandan inventor.
5 min