The advanced microscope designer and producer, Motic China Group, a subsidiary of the acclaimed Motic Electric Group Co. Ltd., has recently partnered with the Global Good Fund, a JV between Bill Gates and the Intellectual Ventures. Through this newly formed partnership, Motic and the Global Good Fund have decided to develop an AI-powered microscope, EasyScan GO to fight against drug-resistant malaria.
For the record, EasyScan GO has the capability to enhance healthcare facilities, pertaining to its ability to detect malaria parasites in blood smear more accurately and automatically within a short period of time. Apparently, it also helps microscopists to track mutating diseases very effectively.
As per conventional diagnosis methods, WHO certified microscopists take nearly 20 minutes per slide to detect severe and drug-resistant malaria parasites from blood smear analysis. Automating the analysis process with the help of software-assisted intelligent software, EasyScan GO will reduce the shortage of trained staff across under-resourced countries, state experts.
This technological innovation is reportedly another contribution by the Global Good Fund, that promotes social entrepreneurs to develop advanced technologies for a humanitarian impact. The field test of a prototype of the microscope has been carried out at the International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV), that validated the fact that the machine learning algorithm established by Global Good is more reliable as compared to conventional microscopes.
In favor of EasyScan GO, the Director of Global Health Technologies supporting Global Good, David Bell said that by providing AI-powered microscopes to laboratory technicians, they could overcome two prominent barriers – standardizing detection across various regions and case management.
Currently, the AI-powered microscope has been trained to analyze all kinds of malaria species, while the research team has been working continuously to find out other traits and parasites found in blood films, inclusive of sickle cells, microfilaria, and Chagas disease. Apart from this, the investigation for other sample types like tissue and sputum is also underway, cite sources.