A novel semi-automatic image processing approach to determine Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia in Giemsa-stained thin blood smears

Abstract

The automatic analysis has proven to be comparable with manual evaluations in terms of accuracy. Moreover, the test results have shown that the proposed comparison-based approach, by exploiting the interrelation between different images and color channels, has successfully overcome most of the inherent limitations possibly occurring during the sample preparation and image acquisition phase. Eventually, this can be seen as an opportunity for developing low-cost solutions for mass screening.