REVOLUTIONIZING TROPICAL MEDICINE. POINT-OF-CARE TESTS, NEW IMAGING TECHNOLOGIES AND DIGITAL HEALTH

• Part I The Health of Low- and Middle-Income Countries Today 1
1 The Burden of Communicable Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries 3
2 The Burden of Non-communicable Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries 37
• Part II How to improve healthcare in low- and middle-income countries by primary point-of-care rapid diagnostic testing 81
3 The Optimal Features of a Rapid Point-of-Care Diagnostic Test 83
4 Revolutionizing HIV Healthcare Delivery Through Rapid and Point-of-Care Testing 88
5 Rapid Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tests for Tuberculosis 105
6 Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Syphilis 126
7 Point-of-Care and Near-Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tests for Malaria: Light Microscopy, Rapid Antigen-Detecting Tests and Nucleic Acid Amplification Assays 137
8 Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Human African Trypanosomiasis 159
9 Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Visceral Leishmaniasis 170
10 A Rapid Diagnostic Test for Dengue 181
11 Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Influenza 191
12 A Rapid Diagnostic Test for Ebola Virus Disease 202
13 Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Yaws 213
14 Rapid Diagnostic Tests for the Detection of Sickling Hemoglobin 224
15 Progress Toward the Development of Rapid Diagnostic Tests for Lymphatic Filariasis and Onchocerciasis 231
• Part III Other tests that can be performed rapidly at the primary-point-of-care 245
16 Point-of-Care Testing for Blood Counts, HbA1c, Renal Function, Electrolytes, Acid–Base Balance and Hepatitis 247
17 Microscopy Skills: Cell Counts, Gram Stains, Ziehl-Neelsen Staining (ZN) and Blood Films 270
18 India Ink Stain and Cryptococcal Antigen Test for Cryptococcal Infection 281
19 Mid Upper Arm Circumference Tapes for Assessment of Severe Acute Malnutrition 294
20 Spirometry for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Due to Inhalation of Smoke from Indoor Fires Used for Cooking and Heating 306
21 Point-of-Care Pulse Oximetry for Children in Low-Resource Settings 327
22 The Use of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Monitor Tissue Oxygenation, Metabolism and Injuryin Low Resource Settings 344
Part IV Cheap imaging technologies 361
23 The Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound in the Resource-Limited Setting 363
24 The Use of Obstetric Ultrasound in Low Resource Settings 406
25 Examining the Optic Fundus and Assessing Visual Acuity and Visual Fields Using Mobile Technology 414

• Part V Telemedicine 439
26 Telemedicine for Clinical Management of Adults in Remote and Rural Areas 441
27 Telemedicine for the Delivery of Specialist Pediatric Services 462
28 Telemedicine in the Diagnosis and Management of Skin Diseases 488
29 Digital Technology, Including Telemedicine, in the Management of Mental Illness 505
30 The Use of Mobile Chest X-Rays for Tuberculosis Telemedicine 531
• Part VI The future 549
31 An Introduction to Digital Health 551
32 Digital Health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries 566
33 Nucleic Acid Detection of Tuberculosis Via Innovative Point-of-Care Nanotechnologies Targeted for Low Resource Settings 584
34 The Use of Functional Nanoparticles for Water Purification 600
35 The Use of Drones in the Delivery of Rural Healthcare 615
36 Implementation of Point-of-Care Tests: Lessons Learnt 633
37 Useful Electronic Healthcare Resources Available for Those Working in Remote Settings 649
38 The Future – How Do We Get from Here to There? 666

A comprehensive resource describing innovative technologies and digital health tools that can revolutionize the delivery of health care in low- to middle-income countries, particularly in remote rural impoverished communities
Revolutionizing Tropical Medicine offers an up-to-date guide for healthcare and other professionals working in low-resource countries where access to health care facilities for diagnosis and treatment is challenging. Rather than suggesting the expensive solution of building new bricks and mortar clinics and hospitals and increasing the number of doctors and nurses in these deprived areas, the authors propose a complete change of mindset. They outline a number of ideas for improving healthcare including rapid diagnostic testing for infectious and non-infectious diseases at a point-of-care facility, together with low cost portable imaging devices. In addition, the authors recommend a change in the way in which health care is delivered. This approach requires task-shifting within the healthcare provision system so that nurses, laboratory technicians, pharmacists and others are trained in the newly available technologies, thus enabling faster and more appropriate triage for people requiring medical treatment.
This text:
• Describes the current burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in low- to middle-income countries throughout the world
• Describes the major advances in healthcare outcomes in low-to middle-income countries derived from implementation of the United Nations/World Health Organisation’s 2000 Millennium Development Goals
• Provides a review of inexpensive rapid diagnostic point-of-care tests for infectious diseases in low-resource countries, particularly for people living in remote rural areas
• Provides a review of other rapid point-of-care services for assessing hematological function, biochemical function, renal function, hepatic function and status including hepatitis, acid-base balance, sickle cell disease, severe acute malnutrition and spirometry
• Explores the use of low-cost portable imaging devices for use in remote rural areas including a novel method of examining the optic fundus using a smartphone and the extensive value of portable ultrasound scanning when x-ray facilities are not available
• Describes the use of telemedicine in the clinical management of both children and adults in remote rural settings
• Looks to the future of clinical management in remote impoverished rural settings using nucleic acid identification of pathogens, the use of nanoparticles for water purification, the use of drones, the use of pulse oximetry and the use of near-infrared spectroscopy
• Finally, it assesses the potential for future healthcare improvement in impoverished areas and how the United Nations/World Health Organization 2015 Sustainable Development Goals are approaching this.
Written for physicians, infectious disease specialists, pathologists, radiologists, nurses, pharmacists and other health care workers, as well as government healthcare managers, Revolutionizing Tropical Medicine is a new up-to-date essential and realistic guide to treating and diagnosing patients in low-resource tropical countries based on new technologies.

Author
• KERRY ATKINSON is an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research in Brisbane, Australia, and an Adjunct Professor in the Stem Cell Laboratories, Queensland University of Technology at the Translational Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• DAVID MABEY is Professor of Communicable Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. He is a physician specializing in infectious and tropical diseases.