What do you think the impact of miLab Platform is?
I think the impact of miLab could be quite large. We all know that microscopy is tedious and unintended mistakes occur during this highly manual process. I think if you have a miLab, a fully automated AI-driven diagnostic platform, you can actually get everything standardized, and you can save the data and not lose any records. In contrast to inexperienced microscopists in areas with low malaria incidence, miLab shows expert detection and diagnosis regardless of the location.
Can you compare the miLab Platform with traditional Malaria diagnostics methods?
The miLab Platform helped me to identify malaria infections that in some cases could not be found by RDTs or even microscopists. It provides results from each sample with high accuracy and consistency compared to other available methods. A great advantage of miLab is that it provides trustful data for research and clinical use with very low variation.
There are two traditional methods for malaria diagnostics. First, we have the RDTs, Rapid Diagnostic Tests, and second, we have microscopy. RDTs are quick and reasonably cheap but in most cases only identify P. falciparum and in some cases also P. vivax. RDTs also cannot quantify parasites and cannot identify the Gametocyte, the transmissible forms.
In contrast, image-based microscopy can identify all Plasmodium species, parasites can be counted, and microscopy can identify gametocytes. However, in some places it is difficult to use this method, particularly where malaria is scarce and microscopists lack the experience of the disease. Reliable results can only be obtained under standardized conditions, with an adequate lab set-up, and with longstanding training experiences. Otherwise, results can be unreliable and in some cases the disease might even not be diagnosed correctly.
What future can you imagine when miLab is widely used?
It is very important for medical staff or staff engaged in clinical trials to get correct and consistent results even under different laboratory settings. miLab’s remotely accessible digitized images of blood samples could increase efficiency in patient diagnosis, potentially improve patient outcome, and enable easier performance of clinical trials on malaria.