The University of Glasgow has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to further help in the diagnosis of malaria. The $ 100,000 award will go towards developing a device which uses mobile-phone derived technology that can detect and separate red blood cells infected with malaria parasites.

The latest award is part of the Grand Challenges Explorations (GSE) programme – a $ 100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Launched in 2008, it supports innovative research that has the potential to dramatically improve lives in some of the world’s poorest countries.

It is hoped that if successful, devices based on the technology could be mass produced for rapid and accurate malaria diagnosis. The project team comprises Jon Cooper, Wolfson Chair of Bioengineering of the College of Science and Engineering, Mike Barrett, professor of Biochemical Parasitology and senior lecturer, Dr Lisa Ranford-Cartwright, both of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences.

The study which started June will exploit surface acoustic wave devices which are electronic components commonly found in TVs, mobile phones and other electronic display devices. Professor Cooper has been using these acoustic devices to develop new technologies for medical diagnostics for a number of years.

The Glasgow team now proposes to use surface acoustic wave devices to exert selective forces on malaria infected red blood cells to separate them from uninfected red cells.

Different cells respond to surface acoustic waves in different ways depending on their physical properties including their elasticity and their shape. Since malaria parasites cause red cells to alter their elasticity and their shape they should respond differently to surface acoustic waves at particular frequencies. The team hopes to produce a hand held device which can identify infected cells quickly and cleanly.

Cooper informed, “Diagnosing malaria can be a difficult and often time consuming procedure because only few blood cells actually carry the parasite. It can take clinicians hours to secure a positive or negative result on a blood sample. Moreover, developing a reliable, portable diagnostic tool is not only important for the individual concerned, but it is also important in preventing the spread of drug resistance in the parasites.”

Dr Ranford-Cartwright added, “In the developing world, where human expertise and medical resources are in short supply, patients presenting with physical symptoms are assumed to have malaria without being given a blood test. They then receive drugs inappropriately. As drug levels fall to sub-curative levels they may then get infected, which creates perfect conditions to select for drug resistance.”

The $ 100,000 grants enable researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenge. Grand Challenge Explorations grants have already been awarded to nearly 500 researchers from over 40 countries. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to $ 1 million.