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Crowd-funding project aims to use iPhone kit to “eradicate malaria from an entire Indonesian island”

Ben Lovejoy Jul 29 2014 - 4:49 am PT

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A crowd-funded project aims to use an iPhone-based malaria diagnosis kit to detect and treat the disease on the Indonesian island of Bangka. The team believes that early detection and treatment can enable the complete eradication of the disease from the island, and pave the way for larger-scale roll-outs in Africa.

We want to prove that we can have a significant effect on malaria case management throughout one of these regions. The first study of this kind will take place on Bangka Island in Indonesia. With this study, we have set ourselves the goal of eradicating malaria from the entirety of Bangka Island during malaria high season.

The IanXen RAPID kit comprises an iPhone with portable microscope attachment, blood slides and lancet pen. A blood drop is placed on the slide, examined through the microscope by an app with the result available within five seconds.

By enabling diagnosis to be carried out with fully portable kit and at a much lower cost than conventional equipment, IanXen hopes that it will be deployed much more widely.

3.3 billion people live at risk of malaria across 106 malaria-endemic countries. Although the risk is widespread, cases and deaths are concentrated in Africa. In 2010, over 80% of 216 million estimated cases and over 90% of 655,000 estimated deaths occurred in Africa.

Prompt diagnosis and effective treatment are the cornerstones of malaria case management; patients recover rapidly if diagnosed and treated early.

A donation of £5 ($8.50) helps fund the project and gets you a mention in the project’s twitter feed, with higher donation levels available.