Malaria is usually diagnosed by a microbiologist by examining a small sample of blood smear. Reducing mortality from malaria infection is possible if it is diagnosed early and followed with appropriate treatment. While the WHO has set audacious goals of reducing malaria incidence and mortality rates by 90% in 2030 and eliminating malaria in 35 countries by that time, it still remains a difficult challenge. Computer-assisted diagnostics are on the rise these days as they can be used effectively as a primary test in the absence of or providing assistance to a physician or pathologist. The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach to detecting, localizing and counting parasitic cells in blood sample images towards easing the burden on healthcare workers.

翻译：疟疾通常由微生物学家通过检查少量血涂片样本进行诊断。若能早期诊断并随后给予适当治疗，则可降低因疟疾感染导致的死亡率。尽管世界卫生组织设定了到2030年将疟疾发病率和死亡率降低90%、并在该时限内使35个国家消除疟疾的宏伟目标，但这一挑战仍然十分艰巨。近年来，计算机辅助诊断技术日益兴起，可在缺乏医生或病理学家的情况下作为有效的初步检测手段，或为其提供辅助支持。本文旨在描述一种检测、定位并计数血液样本图像中寄生细胞的方法，以期减轻医护人员的工作负担。