Smartphone eye-photo screening to find anemia and guide malaria testing in schoolchildren
Official title: Risk stratification of malaria among school-age children with mHealth spectroscopy of blood analysis
Funded at Purdue University · NIH-11381358 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses smartphone photos of the inner eyelid to check for low blood counts and help decide which school-age children in malaria-prone areas should get a rapid malaria test.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Purdue University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (West Lafayette, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2022 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $79,963 |
| NIH project number | 3R33TW012486-04S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11381358 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are school-age children (roughly 6–15 years old) in malaria-endemic regions where the smartphone screening is offered.
✕Less likely to help
Young children under age five, people with severe or urgent illness, or anyone outside the participating schools or regions are unlikely to benefit from this screening approach.
What this research studies
From a parent or student's view, a low-cost smartphone app will take a photo of the inside of the lower eyelid to estimate blood hemoglobin without a finger prick. Those hemoglobin readings will be combined with questions about recent fever or illness to identify children more likely to have malaria. Children flagged by the app would then receive a standard malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT), while others could avoid unnecessary testing. The work focuses on school-age children in malaria-endemic parts of sub-Saharan Africa and builds on earlier mobile-phone hemoglobin methods.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could find hidden malaria infections in schoolchildren while reducing unnecessary rapid tests and saving resources.
How similar studies have gone: Prior pilot work has shown smartphone photos can predict hemoglobin reasonably well, but using that signal to prescreen schoolchildren for malaria RDTs is a newer application.
Where this research is happening
-
Purdue University
West Lafayette, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kim, Young L — Purdue University
- Study coordinator: Kim, Young L
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.