Smartphone conjunctiva photography for malaria risk stratification in asymptomatic school age children.
| Title: | Smartphone conjunctiva photography for malaria risk stratification in asymptomatic school age children. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Hong SG; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.; Park SM; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.; Kwon S; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.; Sakthivel H; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.; Nagappa SP; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.; Leem JW; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.; Steinhubl SR; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.; Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.; Ngiruwonsanga P; Gakoma District Hospital, Gisagara District, Southern Province, Rwanda.; Mangara JN; Malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases and Other Parasitic Diseases Division, Rwanda Biomedical Center, Kigali, Rwanda.; Twizere C; Center of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering and eHealth, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.; Kim YL; Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. youngkim@purdue.edu.; Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. youngkim@purdue.edu.; Purdue Institute for Cancer Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. youngkim@purdue.edu.; Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. youngkim@purdue.edu. |
| Source: | NPJ digital medicine [NPJ Digit Med] 2025 Mar 10; Vol. 8 (1), pp. 151. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Mar 10. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101731738 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2398-6352 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 23986352 NLM ISO Abbreviation: NPJ Digit Med Subsets: PubMed not MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: [London] ; New York : Nature Publishing Group, [2018]- |
| Abstract: | Malaria remains a major global health challenge. Although effective control relies on testing all suspected cases, asymptomatic infections in school-age children are frequently overlooked. Advances in retinal imaging and computer vision have enhanced malaria detection. However, noninvasive, point-of-care malaria detection remains unrealized, partly because of the need for specialized equipment. Here we report radiomic analyses of 4302 photographs of the palpebral conjunctiva captured using unmodified smartphone cameras from asymptomatic 405 participants aged 5 to 15 years to predict malaria risk. Our neural network classification model of radiomic features achieves an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.76 with 95% confidence intervals from 0.68 to 0.84 in distinguishing between malaria-infected and non-infected cases in endemic regions. Photographing the inner eyelid provides the advantages of easy accessibility and direct exposure to the microvasculature. This mobile health approach has the potential for malaria prescreening and managing febrile illness in resource-limited settings.; (© 2025. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests: YLK, SGH, SMP, SK, HS, and JWL filed a US provisional patent application (Application No. 63741951) through the Purdue Research Foundation. Other authors declare no competing interests. |
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| Grant Information: | R01 EB033788 United States EB NIBIB NIH HHS; R21 TW012486 United States TW FIC NIH HHS; R33 TW012486 United States TW FIC NIH HHS; R33TW012486 United States NH NIH HHS |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20250311 Latest Revision: 20260306 |
| Update Code: | 20260306 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC11893748 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41746-025-01548-8 |
| PMID: | 40065117 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article