title: Detection of malaria parasites in thick blood films.
abstract: Malaria, caused by a blood parasite of the genus plasmodium, kills millions of people each year. According to the World Health Organization, the standard for malaria diagnosis is microscopic examination of a stained blood film. We have developed a two-stage algorithm for the automatic detection of plasmodia in thick blood films. The focus of the first stage is on high detection sensitivity while accepting high numbers of false-positive detections per image. The second stage reduces the number of false-positive detections to an acceptable level while maintaining the detection sensitivity of the first stage. The algorithm can detect plasmodia at a sensitivity of 0.97 with a mean number of 0.8 false-positive detections per image. Our results indicate that the proposed algorithm is suitable for the development of an automated microscope for computer-aided malaria screening.
authors.affiliation: Image Processing and Medical Engineering Department, Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, Am Wolfsmantel 33, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elter
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hasslmeyer
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zerfass
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000097:blood* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000166:cytology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity