Patent ID: 9671347
Date: 2017-06-06
CPC Classifications: G01N,Y02A

Claim:
1. A method of diagnosing malaria infection in a patient by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), comprising: obtaining a sample from said patient; mixing the sample with a suspension of magnetic nanoparticles, wherein said magnetic nanoparticles adsorb hemozoin present in the sample onto their surface; obtaining the SERS spectra of the sample; subjecting the sample and suspension of magnetic nanoparticles to a magnetic field prior to and/or during obtaining the SERS spectra of sample, wherein said subjecting comprises applying a magnetic force in a direction of the force of gravity by manipulating a direction of the magnetic field; and correlating the obtained SERS spectra to the presence or amount of hemozoin in the sample, wherein the presence of hemozoin is indicative of malaria infection, wherein the magnetic nanoparticles comprise a core-shell structure, the shell of the core-shell structure comprises a SERS active metal, and the hemozoin adsorbs onto surfaces of the core-shell structures of the magnetic nanoparticles.