The non-invasive malaria detector project that makes it possible to carry out tests without the need for a blood collection was the great winner of the 13th edition of the FITITEL - Technological Innovation Fair of the Medium Institute of Telecommunications (ITEL), which ended this past Wednesday.
Authored by two students of the computer and electronics courses, namely Awa Joaquim Dieme and Adama Joaquim Dieme, the “Non-Invasive Malaria Detection System” uses a technology capable of detecting changes in a patient's red blood cells, allowing a quick diagnosis of the state of the same, that is, when the red blood cells are attacked by malaria, explains the inventors, the shape, the color and its blood concentration changes.
Once this change in the state of the blood cells is detected, the device transmits, in two minutes, a signal to the application added to it, reporting the presence of malaria without having to take a blood sample.
"First, the hands are washed, then the index finger is placed in our device and then a monochromatic ray of light will focus on the finger, being able to tell if the patient is infected or not.”, said the inventors.
Regarding the design phase of the project, it was tested at the Hospital dos Cajueiros, in Luanda, where it consisted of two stages:
First the patient was tested using the device created by the students, after knowing the result the patients were tested again, but this time using the invasive method that involves the withdrawal of blood. In more than 100 tests carried out, the results presented by the device were the same as those achieved with the invasive method.
scientific basis
As for the scientific basis behind the project, Awa Joaquim Dieme informed that the functionality of the device created is based, in part, on the Lambert-Beer law on spectrophotometry, a law developed by Swiss researcher Johann Heinrich Lambert, whose method consists of studying the interaction of light with matter. According to this law, each chemical compound absorbs, transmits or reflects light along a certain wavelength range, making it possible to apply spectrophotometry in the identification and quantification of chemical substances from the measurement of the absorption and transmission of passing light. through the sample. And that's basically what the young students did.
"The study of blood in hospitals is currently done using the spectrophotometer, and with the same theory of spectrophotometry and the Lambert-Beer law, Isaac Newton once did a study on the incidence of light on substances, it is this same theory that we implemented in our project, because we know that nothing is impossible”, revealed Awa Joaquim Dieme.
The student added that although they were successful with the project, which took six months to be developed, the creation process was a difficult stage, since everything was created from scratch and some training in medicine was necessary to better understand the functionality of the red blood cells in the human body.
Purpose of the project
Based on the high numbers of cases of malaria in Angola, Awa Joaquim Dieme said that the project intends to contribute positively to the eradication of this disease in the country, adopting sustainable and futuristic measures.
"We dedicate ourselves to this topic, because in Angola we were almost all victims of malaria. For example, last year the country registered 3,8 million cases of malaria and among the deceased were mostly pregnant women and children between zero and five years old. Therefore, our objective is to help eradicate this disease and simplify the population's testing process, as it is depressing to know that someone can die of malaria due to a late diagnosis of the disease.”He concluded.
As a prize for being the winners of the 2022 edition of FITITEL, the winners will receive 900 thousand kwanzas, each one a laptop, an English course and among other attractive prizes.
It should be noted that the objective of FITITEL was to create opportunities for students to present their projects to the community, as well as compete for various prizes, as well as serving to stimulate the development of an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit and was held in reference to the day of Telecommunications, held on Tuesday (May 17).
The fair was attended by 15 national companies and 80 exhibitors. among them students of the institute.
