Method and apparatus for detecting the presence of intraerythrocytic parasites

1. A method of determining the presence of an intraerythrocytic organism within a sample of liquid whole blood, comprising the steps of:

providing an apparatus that includes at least one light source, at least one light detector, and a programmable analyzer;

creating an image of the sample quiescently residing within a sample chamber using the light source and light detector, which imaging includes trans-illuminating the sample with light from the light source at one or more wavelengths absorbed by hemoglobin;

using the analyzer to evaluate the image for the presence of at least one red blood cell within the image containing at least one first region of decreased hemoglobin content and/or hemoglobin concentration within the red blood cell, which red blood cell has an otherwise homogenous distribution of hemoglobin; and

using the analyzer to determine the presence of an intraerythrocytic organism within the sample based on the image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sample is trans-illuminated by light in the range of about 410-420 nm.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluating step includes using optical density to identify the first region of decreased hemoglobin content and/or hemoglobin concentration within the red blood cell.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the evaluating step includes identifying a second region within the red blood cell having an optical density value different than an optical density value of the first region.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the evaluating step includes determining a second region within the identified red blood cell having the homogenous distribution of hemoglobin.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the evaluating step includes determining a third region contiguous with the first region, which third region has an optical density value greater than that of the first region.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the optical density of the third region is substantially equal to that of the second region.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluating step further includes identifying a region surrounded by the first region, which region has an optical density value greater than that of the first region.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein if an intraerythrocytic organism is determined to be present within the sample, the method further comprising the step of determining if the organism is hematophagus or non-hematophagus.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the evaluating and determining steps are performed by a processor adapted to perform the aforesaid steps.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

adding a fluorescent dye to the sample;

epi-illuminating one or more of the identified red blood cells at one or more first wavelengths of light operable to cause dye residing within an intraerythrocytic organism to fluorescently emit light at one or more second wavelengths of light; and

analyzing the image of the one or more identified red blood cells for the second wavelengths of emitted light.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the analyzing step further includes the steps of:

determining intensity values of the light fluorescently emitted from the identified red blood cells; and

identifying a presence of hemazoin using relative differences in the determined intensity values of the light fluorescently emitted from the identified red blood cells.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the analyzing step further includes the steps of:

determining intensity values of the light fluorescently emitted from the identified red blood cells; and

identifying a type of the intraerythrocytic organism using relative differences in the determined intensity values of the light fluorescently emitted from the identified red blood cells.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the analyzing step further includes the steps of:

determining intensity values of the light fluorescently emitted from the identified red blood cells; and

determining the presence of one of more Howell-Jolly bodies within the identified red blood cells using the determined intensity values of the light fluorescently emitted from the identified red blood cells.