Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29378588›Full record

ArticleMalaria journal2018

Plasmodium species differentiation by non-expert on-line volunteers for remote malaria field diagnosis.

Alejandra Ortiz-Ruiz, María Postigo, Sara Gil-Casanova, Daniel Cuadrado, José M Bautista, José Miguel Rubio, Miguel Luengo-Oroz, María Linares

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Malaria journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Alejandra Ortiz-RuizResearch Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
María PostigoBiomedical Image Technologies Group, DIE, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, CEI Moncloa UPM-UCM, Madrid, Spain.
Sara Gil-CasanovaBiomedical Image Technologies Group, DIE, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, CEI Moncloa UPM-UCM, Madrid, Spain.
Daniel CuadradoBiomedical Image Technologies Group, DIE, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, CEI Moncloa UPM-UCM, Madrid, Spain.
José M BautistaResearch Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
José Miguel RubioMalaria and Emerging Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, National Microbiology Centre, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Miguel Luengo-OrozBiomedical Image Technologies Group, DIE, ETSI Telecomunicación, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, CEI Moncloa UPM-UCM, Madrid, Spain.
María LinaresResearch Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain. mlinares@ucm.es.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3180-6560
Universidad Complutense de Madrid · ESUniversidad Politécnica de Madrid · ESBiomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine · ESInstituto de Salud Carlos III · ES

Funding

Madrid Regional Governement TOPUS S2013/MIT-3024Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BIO2013-44565RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad BIO2016-77430RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad FPDI-2013-16409Universidad Politécnica de Madrid COOP-XVII-02
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRoutine field diagnosis of malaria is a considerable challenge in rural and low resources endemic areas mainly due to lack of personnel, training and sample processing capacity. In addition, differential diagnosis of Plasmodium species has a high level of misdiagnosis. Real time remote microscopical diagnosis through on-line crowdsourcing platforms could be converted into an agile network to support diagnosis-based treatment and malaria control in low resources areas. This study explores whether accurate Plasmodium species identification-a critical step during the diagnosis protocol in order to choose the appropriate medication-is possible through the information provided by non-trained on-line volunteers.

methods88 volunteers have performed a series of questionnaires over 110 images to differentiate species (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium knowlesi) and parasite staging from thin blood smear images digitalized with a smartphone camera adapted to the ocular of a conventional light microscope. Visual cues evaluated in the surveys include texture and colour, parasite shape and red blood size.

resultsOn-line volunteers are able to discriminate Plasmodium species (P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. knowlesi) and stages in thin-blood smears according to visual cues observed on digitalized images of parasitized red blood cells. Friendly textual descriptions of the visual cues and specialized malaria terminology is key for volunteers learning and efficiency.

conclusionsOn-line volunteers with short-training are able to differentiate malaria parasite species and parasite stages from digitalized thin smears based on simple visual cues (shape, size, texture and colour). While the accuracy of a single on-line expert is far from perfect, a single parasite classification obtained by combining the opinions of multiple on-line volunteers over the same smear, could improve accuracy and reliability of Plasmodium species identification in remote malaria diagnosis.

Indexed as

ParasitologyAdolescentAdultChildCrowdsourcingHematologic TestsHumansInfantMalariaMicroscopyPlasmodiumReproducibility of ResultsSurveys and QuestionnairesVolunteersCrowdsourcingMalaria species identificationRemote diagnosis

Identifiers

PMID29378588
PMCPMC5789591
OpenAlexW2795391856

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.