- Gain attention as an alternative technology to the malaria
HRP-2/3 gene deletion problem in Africa
- Prepare a bridgehead to enter the U.S. market by securing a
credible reference
YONGIN, South Korea, June 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On-Device AI healthcare
company, Noul, announced that it will jointly participate in a
malaria diagnosis project initiated by U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) with the Kenya Medical Research
Institute (KEMRI).
The project will involve 2,000 patients who are tested for
malaria at four health facilities located in malaria endemic
areas of Kisumu and Siaya in western Kenya. The work will be conducted from
July to December 2024. The project
will compare and evaluate Noul's digital microscopy-based malaria
diagnostic solution with rapid diagnostic tests and local
microscopy to field-validate the effectiveness of Noul's product as
a malaria diagnostic solution.
Dr. Simon Kariuki, the Head of
KEMRI/Centre for Global Health Research Malaria Program, in Kisumu
said, "WHO recommends confirming malaria through quality-assured
microscopy or rapid diagnostic tests in malaria-endemic areas such
as western Kenya. There are many
challenges with the currently recommended tests for the diagnosis
of malaria, and new technology is urgently needed to improve the
quality of diagnosis of malaria. We hope that Noul's digital
microscopy-based malaria diagnostic solution will greatly improve
the effectiveness of malaria diagnosis in the field."
According to the WHO report released last April 2024, 'Digital Malaria Microscopy' is
mentioned as a major task that the international community must
implement to combat malaria. miLab™ MAL is an automated diagnostic
solution which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to improve
microscopy by detecting and displaying images of parasites for the
laboratory technician. Unlike rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) that
determine infection by antigen-antibody reactions, miLab™ MAL
utilizes a morphological diagnostic approach allowing accurate
diagnostic testing regardless of the presence of pfhrp2/3
deletions, which are currently spreading across Africa.
Dr. Tae-hwan Kim, the Head of Business Division of Noul,
said, "Noul's miLab™ MAL is proving its top-notch diagnostic
performance beyond field microscopy in major African countries such
as Nigeria, Ghana, and Ethiopia, as reported in several publications.
Through the project with the U.S. CDC and KEMRI, Noul plans to
establish miLab™ MAL as the best-performing product to solve the
global malaria diagnostic problem and prepare a bridgehead for
entering the U.S. market based on secured references."
Kenya has about 3.5 million
malaria infections per year, with 13 million tests performed
annually to diagnose malaria. Western
Kenya is a place where quality-assured malaria diagnostic
methods are needed for all febrile patients before treatment, and
the current diagnostic methods, microscopy and RDTs, pose several
challenges making it difficult to accurately diagnose malaria. This
is why new digital technology, Noul's miLab™ MAL, is needed to
improve malaria diagnosis.
About Noul
On-Device Healthcare Company, Noul is recognized for its
innovative technology as the first AI-based diagnostic
platform company in the blood and cancer sector, with miLab™
platform introduced as "the most advanced digital microscope
and fully integrated bench-top platform" in UNITAID's report
in 2022.
Website https://noul.kr/en/
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SOURCE Noul