A low-cost, portable device for the study of the malaria parasite’s growth inhibition via microwave exposure
Esteban Rua,
Lorena Coronado,
Carlos A. Donado Morcillo,
Ricardo Correa,
Lina Solís,
Carmenza Spadafora,
Alejandro Von Chong
Affiliations
Esteban Rua
School of Electrical Engineering, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Víctor Levi Sasso Campus, Panama City, Panama
Lorena Coronado
Sistema Nacional de Investigación-SENACYT, Panama City, Panama; Biomedical Physics and Engineering Unit, Center of Cellular and Molecular Biology of Diseases (CBCMe), Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT AIP), Panama City, Panama
Carlos A. Donado Morcillo
Biomedical Physics and Engineering Unit, Center of Cellular and Molecular Biology of Diseases (CBCMe), Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT AIP), Panama City, Panama
Ricardo Correa
Biomedical Physics and Engineering Unit, Center of Cellular and Molecular Biology of Diseases (CBCMe), Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT AIP), Panama City, Panama
Lina Solís
Biomedical Physics and Engineering Unit, Center of Cellular and Molecular Biology of Diseases (CBCMe), Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT AIP), Panama City, Panama
Carmenza Spadafora
Sistema Nacional de Investigación-SENACYT, Panama City, Panama; Biomedical Physics and Engineering Unit, Center of Cellular and Molecular Biology of Diseases (CBCMe), Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT AIP), Panama City, Panama
Alejandro Von Chong
School of Electrical Engineering, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Víctor Levi Sasso Campus, Panama City, Panama; Sistema Nacional de Investigación-SENACYT, Panama City, Panama; Corresponding author at: School of Electrical Engineering, Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá, Víctor Levi Sasso Campus, Panama City, Panama.
Recently, a novel method for the growth inhibition of malaria parasites using microwaves was proposed. However, the apparatuses used to demonstrate this method are high-cost and immovable, hindering the progression in this field of research, which is still in its early stages. This paper presents the redesign, construction, and validation of an equivalent system, converting it into a portable and low-cost system, capable of replacing the existing one. The proposed system is mainly composed of an RF generator (MAX2870), an RF amplifier (SKYWORKS 66292-11) and a graphical user interface. Likewise, the RF applicator proposed by the original study was redesigned, resulting in a five-fold improvement in return loss. The obtained results indicate that the proposed system achieves 90% parasite growth inhibition, matching the performance of its counterpart at less than 1% of its cost. These results represent a breakthrough for the creation of smaller, enhanced devices that open new possibilities for an alternative treatment to combat this devastating disease.
