1. Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Sawangi(M), Wardha.
Poster: 100
Session name: Diagnostics
Day: Thursday 13, December 2018
Implementation of Foldscope for the Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases in Rural Areas
Nishant Burnase, Abhay Gaidhane, Punit Fulzele, Vivek Gupta, Zahiruddin Quazi Syed
Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Sawangi(M), Wardha.
Introduction
Methodology
Images
The tropical and subtropical regions like African countries and a part of Indian subcontinent have more prevalence of infectious diseases caused by parasitic fungi and nematodes like soil transmitted helminths (STH). STH are the major reason of anemia among antenatal women and infants which could lead to improper fetal development. Likewise, fungi are ubiquitous in nature and around 300 fungal species are reported as parasitic which causes skin infections and are one of the major reason of food deterioration and poisoning. The epidemic of such infections are more prevalent in remote and impoverish rural areas which usually do not have proper medical facilities. Foldscope could be an economically feasible and portable diagnostic alternative for the conventional microscope in the diagnosis of infectious diseases in such areas.
The images were captured by the help smart phone by focusing slide under the lens of foldscope with 140X Magnification power and using LED illuminator as a source of light (Image 4).
Images
Image 4: Showing fungal hyphae & Conidia under foldscope
Results
After analyzing each captured image precisely, few specimens showed structures which are analogous to the characteristic morphological parts of fungi. Slender thread like parts hyphae stained as blue were observed holding fruit bodies or conidiophores at its apical end. Along with this some of minute point like structures were found to be separated from conidiophore these are fugal conidia
Image 1: Foldscope: A kind of portable microscope
Objectives
To check the unstableness of foldscope in the microscopic examinations of fungal and helminth parasites.
To develop smart phone based rapid and cheap diagnostics for fungal and STH infections by implementing foldscope and image processing in collaboration.
Conclusion
Overall, considering the clarity of results we can conclude that, foldscope could be a useful tool in the microscopic examination studies furthermore, it could be an asset in the field of diagnosis of an infectious diseases particularly in rural and remote areas.
Methodology
Sample collection:
Fruits and vegetable samples were collected from local vegetable markets, ware houses and dust bins outside fruit stalls for the screening of fungi. Microscopy:
All collected samples were processed for microscopic examination by implementing lacto-phenol cotton blue staining method.
Each prepared slide was sealed with PVC sealant to prevent leakage of stain to avoid damage to foldscope (Image2).
A mobile tripod stand was preferred to fix foldscope and smart phone together to acquired a good quality of images(Image3).
Image 2: Lacto-phenol Cotton blue staining
Future perspective
Our future aim is to develop software based portable and rapid diagnostic tool by processing images captured by a smart phone attached to foldscope and implement it in medical facility deficient areas
References
Fungal mycotoxins in foods A review.pdf.
Congo-red K. Comparison of Microscopic Morphology of Fungi Using Lactophenol Cotton Blue (LPCB), Iodine Glycerol and Congo Red Formaldehyde Staining. 2014;8(7):7-8. doi: /JCDR/2014/
Cybulski JS, Clements J, Prakash M. Foldscope : Origami-Based Paper Microscope. 2014;9(6). doi: /journal.pone
Salam, N. Prevalence and distribution of soil- transmitted helminth infections in India.(2017). doi: /s
Image 3: Foldscope attached with smart phone