A proposal for a low cost malaria screening system on mobile devices with digital image processing techniques on blood smear blades
Malaria, segmentation, classification, parasitemia
Nowadays, a variety of mobile devices are available and accessible to the general population, making it an indispensable item for communication and use of various services. In this same direction, these devices have become quite useful in several areas of expertise, including the medical field. With the integration of these devices and applications, it is possible to perform preventive work, helping to combat outbreaks and even prevent epidemics. According to the World Health Organization (2017), malaria is one of the most lethal infectious diseases in the world, mainly in the region of sub-Saharan Africa, and in Brazil it is more frequent the occurrence of cases in the Amazon region. For the diagnosis of malaria it is essential to have trained and experienced technicians to identify the species and phases of the disease, a crucial part to define the ideal dosages of administering medication to patients. In this work, we explore methods of digital imaging processing and machine learning with the goal of developing a low cost malaria screening solution on mobile devices. Preliminary results indicate that the use of image segmentation is a great solution for the identification of possibly infected regions in images of peripheral blood slides and counts of the overlapping cell. In view of this, it is possible to break barriers of accessibility in countries with few resources in the use of diagnostic tools and screening of diseases.