Plasmo Detect: Diagnosing malaria with a single click—or almost…
After winning the Montpellier Innovation Booster in 2024, researcher Grégoire Pasquier is about to finalize a new app capable of accurately detecting, from a blood smear, the type and severity of malaria… using a smartphone.
Grégoire Pasquier, a university hospital physician and researcher at the Migevec laboratory, developed the concept using the Pl@ntNet app, which allows users to identify plants from a photo catalog. Since 2021, while working on a thesis about the role of Schizophyllum commune in human pathology, he has been developing Plasmo detect, an app capable of detecting malaria as early as possible and in all its forms using a smartphone adapted to function as a microscope. “Currently, the gold standard for diagnosing malaria is microscopy, specifically a blood smear. But it takes considerable expertise to determine which of the five existing parasite species is causing the disease and what stage it is in. With Plasmo detect, we hope to automate this process using artificial intelligence that classifies the images,” explains Grégoire Pasquier.
30,000 blood smear images
To begin with, he and the computer scientist assisting him photographed and annotated nearly 30,000 images of blood smears from people infected with different species of Plasmodium. This catalog is essential not only for identifying the species but also for determining the parasitemia—the percentage of infected red blood cells. “Above 4%, it’s considered severe, ” adds the researcher. “For now, we’re able to identify the correct species in 80% of cases. According to the criteria in the World Health Organization (WHO) quality manual, we’re at level 2. To reach level 1, we need to achieve 90%. So we’re currently working on improving the performance of the algorithm and the app,” summarizes Grégoire Pasquier.
To achieve this, the team is currently expanding the photo database and annotating the images already available to include the parasitic stages detected in each blood smear. “We can go into even greater detail than we have so far, ” says the scientist, who hopes to see better results in the near future.
Large-scale testing
After being identified and mentored by Christophe Bonnel, head of the innovation accelerator at Montpellier University Hospital, Grégoire Pasquier was referred to theMontpellier Innovation Booster(BIM) and eventually became a recipient of its funding. This support program, led by theUniversity Innovation Hub(PUI), enabled Plasmodetect to secure a grant of 30,000 euros to continue its efforts and develop a reliable, usable application by 2027. Next year, a master’s student specializing in artificial intelligence will join the team. Grégoire Pasquier also plans to invest part of this funding in a more powerful computer and a high-precision camera.
Thanks to BIM workshops focused on startup creation, the project leader was also able to gain training in entrepreneurship. “This opens up some interesting opportunities, ”he notes. In the coming weeks, the app could already be handed over to a telemedicine company capable of testing it on a large scale. “We’ve just signed a confidentiality agreement; things are moving along very well.”
260 million people affected
On November 25, the founder of the Plasmo detect project also represented the PUI at the Starthèse ceremony, which took place in Lyon. This was an opportunity for Grégoire Pasquier to once again immerse himself in the world of entrepreneurship and for the University of Montpellier to highlight innovative projects that address potentially serious and pressing health challenges.
Malaria affects nearly 260 million people worldwide each year and kills nearly 600,000. Most reported cases are in sub-Saharan Africa, “where few people are trained to read blood smears, ” the researcher explains. By 2027, Plasmo detect could therefore facilitate diagnosis, guide treatment much more quickly, and perhaps even save lives…