Fyodor Biotechnologies has announced that its broad-based non-invasive, single-step Urine Malaria Test (UMT Broad) dipstick kits are being equipped with mPedigree's cellphone technology element to boost the power of the system’s world-first rapid diagnostic capabilities.

The socially-responsible company renowned for producing innovative diagnostic and biopharmaceutical products has the UMT Broad system as its pioneering clinical diagnosis kit capable of diagnosing 98% of malaria types worldwide.

The technology is designed to empower households to avoid wrongful medication, especially in areas where laboratory equipment is scarce, which is the case in many of the developing world, by empowering them with a low cost means of confirming which fever conditions are actually as a result of malaria.

Wrongful diagnosis and self-medication without diagnosis seriously compound the malaria crisis in the developing world. A tool that provides a quick check for fevers shall ensure that patients receive the right treatment quickly and should save millions of lives.

The mPedigree cellphone technology element multiplies the benefits several fold by ensuring that all UMT Broad kits are carefully tracked through distribution channels safely into the hands of patients in all households that need them, however remote.

Patients text a special ID on the pack to register the kit before use via the toll-free SMS hotline, 1393. Patients thereafter receive instant logs via free text messages containing authentication, traceability and customer service information. Once registered, the UMT kit enters an electronic surveillance and warranty program.

Patient registration and logging opens the door to a wide range of additional benefits, such as quality control, patient security, pharmacovigilance, data validation, availability monitoring, rational and sound use monitoring, preventive surveillance, and mHealth.

Fyodor hopes to work with partners over time to maximise these various opportunities.

This Fyodor Rapid Diagnostic electronic monitoring service is powered by mPedigree’s Goldkeys technologies, such as EarlySensor and Acodion.

Fyodor’s Executive Vice President, Anne Derrick, said: “Though rapid diagnostics as a field holds much promise on its own, there is no doubt that the approach is greatly enhanced by incorporating the massive power of mobile communications, and we at Fyodor are both proud and determined about our pioneering role in this emerging ecosystem.”