Max designed a functional and interactive prototype of an intelligent optical diagnostic for schistosomiasis and created all the necessary software.
Urinary Schistosomiasis is a parasitic infection caused by the parasite Schistosoma Haematobium (SH). The most common diagnostic method is manual microscopy, which is often unavailable in remote areas. This project aims to develop a simple, low-cost test to detect the presence of SH eggs in urine.
The various components of the diagnostic technology and product interaction were developed separately in parallel design processes. Once the components were deemed sufficient- ly developed to meet the specified requirements lists, they were combined into a single product embodiment design and prototype. This integrated prototype was designed to be both functionally interactive and all the software required for this was created.
The project resulted in a prototype that was validated and optimised using SH eggs in saline solution. Extensive field research was carried out in Côte d’Ivoire using the prototype to obtain high quality data from urine samples. Diagnostics were performed using manual microscopy to determine the number of eggs that could potentially be observed by the prototype. The data collected can be used in the future to re-evaluate the diagnostic potential of the holographic technology and to optimise the reconstruction and classification algorithms within the existing prototype to make it a fully functional diagnostic device.
