Fighting Epidemics in Africa

Researchers at IMTEK develop a rapid test for diagnosing malaria and other tropical diseases out of blood in a single run

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Dr. Cheikh Fall vom Institut Pasteur de Dakar/Senegal legt die LabDisk mit einer Blutprobe zum Test in das Analysegerät. Foto: Benjamin Lopez-Jimena, University of Stirling/Großbritannien

World Malaria Day on 25 April 2016 calls to mind a widespread disease that is often forgotten in times of global threats like Ebola or Zika. It is difficult to diagnose malaria, because fever is the main symptom of numerous tropical infections. The CD-shaped platform “LabDisk” now allows doctors to differentiate the fever-causing disease by testing a single blood sample for several pathogens within a timeframe of 60 to 90 minutes with the help of particular biochemical components. The diagnostic instrument for malaria and other tropical infectious diseases was developed by a team of scientists led by Dr. Konstantinos Mitsakakis from the University of Freiburg’s Laboratory for MEMS Applications at IMTEK and Freiburg’s Hahn-Schickard Institute for Microanalysis Systems. The disk is easy and inexpensive to produce, is designed for use with a portable device, and can be operated at the point of need even by untrained personnel. It is, thus, particularly well suited for use in developing countries. The LabDisk is the result of the project “DiscoGnosis,” which received three million euros in funding from the European Commission and ends on 30 April 2016.

In March 2016, doctors at the Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal successfully used the platform to test blood samples for malaria parasites, dengue and chikungunya viruses, as well as for salmonella bacteria. These results demonstrate that the LabDisk is capable of detecting the three main categories of pathogens – parasites, bacteria, and viruses – as well as up to twelve different types of pathogens at once.

More information: www.DiscoGnosis.eu

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