Clinics in rural areas are set to benefit from a new and portable malaria blood count reader in an effort to step up the fight against the killer disease.
The new testing kits have been manufactured by the Sight Diagnostics, an Israeli pharmaceutical company that is currently marketing the parasight, a larger and more efficient malaria detection platform that makes use of computer vision technology to analyze blood samples.
The Israeli firm says the new diagnostic device has been tested by the United States Army Medical Research Directorate (USAMRD-K) to assure of its reliability.
The new device has been publicized as being faster and smaller compared to the existing devices, making it more appropriate for clinics in remote environs.
"The USAMRD-K serves as an ideal partner, given their very extensive background in malarial clinical research and renowned expertise in malaria diagnostics," stated Yossi Pollak, the CEO of Sight Diagnostics.
This new device being tested and marketed is the portable version of Parasight device, a high-through-put malaria detection platform which uses aided computer vision technology.
The device has recorded a 98 percent sensitivity and 98 percent specificity in clinical trials that have already been performed in Africa and India.
SightDx further disclosed the portable version will perform complete blood count, offering additional diagnostic information that is very critical to health care providers who are operating in remote locations.