Becton, Dickinson brings 4-minute malaria detection kit to India

Hyderabad: US-based medical devices firm Becton, Dickinson and Co. (BD) Monday said it will introduce a malaria detection method developed by Israel’s Sight Diagnostics Ltd (SightDX) in India, which will make a diagnosis in just in four minutes.

Sight Diagnostics has developed a novel computer vision platform for blood analysis, the SightDX Parasight Malaria Detection Platform. Through this agreement, BD will market the Parasight Platform in India, adding to BD’s extensive infectious disease diagnostics portfolio.

The SightDX platform uses combines innovative software algorithms, specialized optics and a quicker sample preparation method. The instrument automatically analyses the sample and provides a diagnostic result within four minutes.

The device also provides information on the species of the infecting malarial parasites and information that may be used by clinicians to aid in determining the severity of the illness.

“Our collaboration with Sight Diagnostics is aligned with our purpose of advancing the world of health by bringing technology solutions for malaria diagnosis to India,” said Varun Khanna, managing director, BD India and South Asia.

The company said the platform has been successfully tested at a number of Indian and international laboratories, and can detect even very low levels of infection.

The SightDX Parasight Malaria Detection Platform will be BD’s first step into the Indian malaria diagnostics market. BD currently markets a wide variety of diagnostic systems in India with numerous offerings in the area of sepsis (blood culture systems), tuberculosis, pathogen identification and blood cell morphology (flow cytometry systems).

In 2013, approximately 880,000 cases of malaria were reported in India with over 128 million tests performed.

BD said it will market the Parasight Malaria Detection Platform for pathology labs and hospitals across India. The technology could also have an application in blood banks, where malaria testing is mandatory on all blood donations, the company said.