Collaborative intelligence and gamification for on-line malaria species differentiation

Background: Current World Health Organization recommendations for the management of malaria include the need for a parasitological confrmation prior to triggering appropriate treatment. The use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria has contributed to a better infection recognition and a more targeted treatment. Nevertheless, low-density infections and parasites that fail to produce HRP2 can cause false-negative RDT results. Microscopy has traditionally been the methodology most commonly used to quantify malaria and characterize the infecting species, but the wider use of this technique remains challenging, as it requires trained personnel and processing capacity. Objective: In this study, the feasibility of an on-line system for remote malaria species identifcation and diferentia‑ tion has been investigated by crowdsourcing the analysis of digitalized infected thin blood smears by non-expert observers using a mobile app. Methods: An on-line videogame in which players learned how to diferentiate the young trophozoite stage of the fve Plasmodium species has been designed. Images were digitalized with a smartphone camera adapted to the ocular of a conventional light microscope. Images from infected red blood cells were cropped and puzzled into an on-line game. During the game, players had to decide the malaria species (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium knowlesi) of the infected cells that were shown in the screen. After 2 months, each player’s decisions were analysed individually and collectively. Results: On-line volunteers playing the game made more than 500,000 assessments for species diferentiation. Statistically, when the choice of several players was combined (n>25), they were able to signifcantly discriminate Plasmodium species, reaching a level of accuracy of 99% for all species combinations, except for P. knowlesi (80%). Non-expert decisions on which Plasmodium species was shown in the screen were
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness
Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Madrid Regional Government
Spain’s Science, Innovation & Universities Ministry
Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness
European Regional Development Funds
Amazon Web Services
Fundación Renta Corporación
Ashoka
Depto. de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular
Fac. de Farmacia
TRUE
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