The MOD Device Today, “this job” is the study of infectious organisms, specifically malaria. While there are only 1,500 cases of malaria in the U.S. each year, this parasitic disease remains a global health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2015 an estimated 214 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide, killing 438,000, most of them children in Africa. As scientists around the world, including Grimberg, work on a vaccine, a combination of mosquito evolution, drug resistance, and a lack of funding means malaria persists, especially in developing countries. This makes Grimberg’s Magneto Optical Detection (MOD) device – a lowcost, portable, hand-held malaria detection instrument that quickly determines the presence of the disease from a drop of blood – all the more valuable as a diagnostic breakthrough. Speed of diagnosis is important in malaria detection, especially for finding those reservoirs of the disease that are infected but aren’t exhibiting symptoms. Early detection and treatment reduce the opportunities for carrier mosquitoes to pass the disease on to those who aren’t infected. The trouble is that most malaria diagnoses today are made with a microscope in the field under less than ideal conditions, and can take up to an hour to perform. By comparison, Grimberg’s MOD device can make a diagnosis in as few as 30 seconds. Higher throughput means more people can be screened at a time and, maybe one day, eradication of malaria. The technology behind the MOD device is straightforward: It relies on magnets to detect an iron byproduct (Grimberg smiles and calls it “malaria poop”) produced after the malaria parasite eats hemoglobin. A blood sample under a laser light is tested as small magnets move closer to and away from the sample. As the magnets get closer, the iron particles line up and block the light. No light means the sample is positive for malaria. 44 SHAKERONLINE.COM | WINTER 2017
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