John Lewandowski is a PhD student at MIT, where he invented a groundbreaking new device that could have a dramatic impact on the way heath care professionals combat malaria. His creation is called the RAM, which stands for Rapid Assessment of Malaria, and it’s a small box capable of diagnosing malaria accurately in just 5 seconds.
“Early detection is very important, typically in the first five to seven days before symptoms arise, so that treatment can begin,” the 26-year-old scientist recently told CNNMoney.
There are currently two ways to diagnose the deadly disease, both requiring blood analysis. A blood sample can be analyzed by human eyes under a microscope in order to determine whether or not the parasite is present, or a diagnostic test can be used. The latter is preferential, especially in the field, but the current crop of devices often have difficulty detecting early-stage infections.
With a single drop of blood, Lewandowski’s RAM device can accurately detect the presence of malaria using Magneto-Optical Detection as early as a week before symptoms even present themselves. Like a pregnancy test, the RAM analyzes the sample and returns either a positive or negative response.
As impressive as the technology itself is the cost to build Lewandowski’s creation, which is assembled from parts that cost less than $120 all together. Beyond the outer box and LCD display, the RAM consists mainly of a circuit board, a laser, some magnets and an SD card reader.
The RAM is currently being developed by Boston-based Disease Diagnostic Group, a company Lewandowski founded to create and distribute the RAM. A recent filed test in India yielded results that were accurate 93% to 97% of the time, and the company will launch a new field trial this summer in Nigeria that Lewandowski hopes will test as many as 5,000 patients
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