How Heat-Seeking Missile Technology Can Detect Malaria

It turns out that technology used in heat-seeking missiles can be leveraged to quickly detect blood borne pathogens such as malaria parasites.

Australian researchers took a focal plane array (FPA), used in missiles to detect tanks, and connected it to an infrared imaging microscope and a synchrotron light source. Within a matter of minutes, the FPA can detect the presence of malaria in a single red blood cell.

The FPA detectors used in the research were initially developed in the 1990s for use in Javelin antitank missiles. By turning images into electrical signals, the FPA can identify and target heat signals on the battlefield created by armored vehicles.

For targeting malaria, the technology scans a blood smear from a patient to identify infected cells in a sample. Working in conjunction with hyperspectral image processing to home in on parasites in blood smears, it can detect malaria by identifying unique lipid signatures associated with the parasite. The FPAs are able to accomplish that feat by detecting a specific vibration linked to malaria-infected cells.

By fostering early detection and treatment of malaria, the technology could be used to halt the progression of the disease, which kills hundreds of thousands of people each year. “We believe this sets the gold standard for malaria testing,” explained associate professor and lead researcher Bayden Wood from Monash University (Melbourne) in a statement. Wood also cites also the technology’s potential in curbing the overuse of antimalarial medications. By diagnosing the disease at its earliest state, it could also be used to quarantine infected people before they transmit the disease to others.

While there has been progress in the field of malaria diagnostics in recent years, Wood observes that their accuracy is limited and some of the tests demand hours of tedious work from microscopists who are in short supply in many developing nations. By contrast, the FPA-based technology is quick and relatively easy to administer—taking only about a minute to set up and three minutes of additional processing time. In addition, current malaria detection is often limited in its ability to detect malaria in its earliest stages

“In many countries only people who display signs of malaria are treated. But the problem with this approach is that some people don’t have typical flu-like symptoms associated with malaria, and this means a reservoir of parasites persists that can reemerge and spread very quickly within a community,” explained Leann Tilley, a professor at the University of Melbourne who was involved in the research.

The researchers plan on field-testing a portable version of the technology in clinics in Thailand. A clinical trial is expected within 2–3 years.