Evaluation of a Mobile Phone-Based Microscope for Screening of Schistosoma haematobium Infection in Rural Ghana

AbstractSchistosomiasis affects over 170 million people in Africa. Here we compare a novel, low-cost mobile phone microscope to a conventional light microscope for the label-free diagnosis of infections in a rural Ghanaian school setting. We tested the performance of our handheld microscope using 60...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 2017-06, Vol.96 (6), p.1468-1471
Main Authors: Bogoch, Isaac I, Koydemir, Hatice C, Tseng, Derek, Ephraim, Richard K D, Duah, Evans, Tee, Joseph, Andrews, Jason R, Ozcan, Aydogan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Animals
Cell Phone
Child
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Ghana - epidemiology
Humans
Microscopy
Mobile Applications
Rural Population
Schistosoma haematobium - isolation & purification
Schistosomiasis haematobia - diagnosis
Sensitivity and Specificity
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Summary:AbstractSchistosomiasis affects over 170 million people in Africa. Here we compare a novel, low-cost mobile phone microscope to a conventional light microscope for the label-free diagnosis of infections in a rural Ghanaian school setting. We tested the performance of our handheld microscope using 60 slides that were randomly chosen from an ongoing epidemiologic study in school-aged children. The mobile phone microscope had a sensitivity of 72.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 56.1-84.2), specificity of 100% (95% CI: 75.9-100), positive predictive value of 100% (95% CI: 86.3-100), and a negative predictive value of 57.1% (95% CI: 37.4-75.0). With its modest sensitivity and high specificity, this handheld and cost-effective mobile phone-based microscope is a stepping-stone toward developing a powerful tool in clinical and public health settings where there is limited access to conventional laboratory diagnostic support.
ISSN:0002-9637
1476-1645
DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.16-0912