In This Issue

Abstract

In This Issue Transdermal detection of malariaCurrently, detecting malaria infection in a patient requires blood sampling and a set of reagents, rendering detection a time-and resource-intensive process. Rapid, noninvasive detection of malaria could aid global malaria eradication efforts. To develop a transdermal diagnostic method, Ekaterina Lukianova-Hleb et al. (pp. 900-905) harnessed the optical properties of hemozoin, a nanoparticle produced in blood by the malaria parasite. The authors found that hemozoin absorbs the energy from a short laser pulse and vaporizes a small volume of liquid around itself to create a vapor nanobubble detectable both optically and acoustically. The authors tested the diagnostic method in hemozoin crystals suspended in water, in malaria-infected human red blood cells, and in malaria-infected mice. In the malaria-infected mouse, the authors transdermally monitored vapor nanobubbles with a photoacoustic probe positioned over a shallow blood vessel in the mouse's ear. Hemozoin-generated vapor nanobubbles were detectable in all studied systems, the authors report, at levels as low as 0.0001% infected red blood cells. According to the authors, the method does not appear to cause damage to tissues or uninfected blood cells and may be useful for rapid, field-based detection or screening of malaria. -P.G.