A multidisciplinary team involving the Microbiology Service of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, the Microbiology research group of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, the UPC and the Probitas Foundation has developed a novel AI-based diagnostic method for malaria.
A multidisciplinary team involving the Microbiology Service of the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, the Microbiology research group of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC) and the Probitas Foundation introduced a novel AI-based diagnostic method for malaria. The research was primarily conducted at the microbiology laboratory of the Drassanes Vall d’Hebron Centre for International Health, in collaboration with the UPC’s Computational Biology and Complex Systems Group (BIOCOM-UPC), Image and Video Processing Group (GPI) and Database Technologies and Information Management Group (). It is a system based on artificial intelligence that combines a mobile application with a low-cost robotised microscope. Its design aims to provide a practical and effective method, particularly suitable for countries with limited resources where the disease is endemic. The results of the first iMAGING prototype have been published in the Frontiers in Microbiology journal. The system has demonstrated a reliability of over 90% in the laboratory. The next step will be to test it on site.
