Imperial College London
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Dr Ellie Sherrard-Smith

Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health

Advanced Research Fellow
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 3229e.sherrard-smith

 
 
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Location

 

G27Praed StreetSt Mary's Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Witmer:2018:10.1186/s12936-018-2436-9,
author = {Witmer, K and Sherrard-Smith, E and Straschil, U and Tunnicliff, M and Baum, J and Delves, M},
doi = {10.1186/s12936-018-2436-9},
journal = {Malaria Journal},
title = {An inexpensive open source 3D printed membrane feeder for human malaria transmission studies},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2436-9},
volume = {17},
year = {2018}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BackgroundThe study of malaria transmission requires the experimental infection of mosquitoes with Plasmodium gametocytes. In the laboratory, this is achieved using artificial membrane feeding apparatus that simulate body temperature and skin of the host, and so permit mosquito feeding on reconstituted gametocyte-containing blood. Membrane feeders either use electric heating elements or complex glass chambers to warm the infected blood; both of which are expensive to purchase and can only be sourced from a handful of specialized companies. Presented and tested here is a membrane feeder that can be inexpensively printed using 3D-printing technology.ResultsUsing the Plasmodium falciparum laboratory strain NF54, three independent standard membrane feeding assays (SMFAs) were performed comparing the 3D-printed feeder against a commercial glass feeder. Exflagellation rates did not differ between the two feeders. Furthermore, no statistically significant difference was found in the oocyst load nor oocyst intensity of Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes (mean oocyst range 1.3–6.2 per mosquito; infection prevalence range 41–79%).ConclusionsOpen source provision of the design files of the 3D-printed feeder will facilitate a wider range of laboratories to perform SMFAs in laboratory and field settings, and enable them to freely customize the design to their own requirements.
AU  - Witmer,K
AU  - Sherrard-Smith,E
AU  - Straschil,U
AU  - Tunnicliff,M
AU  - Baum,J
AU  - Delves,M
DO  - 10.1186/s12936-018-2436-9
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 1475-2875
TI  - An inexpensive open source 3D printed membrane feeder for human malaria transmission studies
T2  - Malaria Journal
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2436-9
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/62725
VL  - 17
ER  -
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