Mosquitoes inhabit different regions of the world, with more than 3,000 species already identified. Some of them are carriers of various diseases such as malaria, yellow fever or dengue fever. According to the World Health Organization, 627,000 people died from malaria in 2020.
Precisely to control the spread of mosquitoes, researcher Dinarte Vasconcelos is developing a technical solution as part of his doctoral thesis. “My research aims to produce an economically viable solution equipped with a set of sensors that can detect mosquitoes and distinguish them from other insects,” says the researcher. Nuno Nunes and João Pedro Gomes, professors at the Instituto Superior Técnico and researchers at the Institute of Interactive Technologies (ITI) and Institute of Systems and Robotics (ISR), respectively, are advising the research project.
First, the team tested microphones that captured the sound of mosquitoes flapping their wings. “Because the frequency of wing flapping varies between species, it is possible to identify the species’ pattern found by the microphones,” explains Dinarte Vasconcelos. However, this approach only allowed measurement within a short range, and the system was not prepared to deal with background noise. By installing infrared optical sensors, it was possible to increase the range of the system and make it less sensitive to ambient noise. However, the existence of multiple species of insects requires the use of artificial intelligence to achieve better results. “We need a database to identify which of the detected insects are mosquitoes,” he adds.
Under favorable conditions, a female mosquito can hatch between 100 and 200 eggs in 7 days, so the prototype must be able to distinguish between males and females. “The laboratory tests that we carried out in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Funchal show that our system correctly identified more than 90% of mosquitoes in terms of species and sex,” says Dinarte Vasconcelos. Dinarte and the team conducted further tests in Thailand in collaboration with Mahidol University, where malaria-carrying mosquitoes –aedes and Anopheles, are present. The researchers conducted experiments near the Rajanagarindra Tropical Disease International Center (RTIC). Here the team placed light and dry ice traps to attract mosquitoes. They designed these tests to calibrate sensors, identify problems, and improve detection in a natural environment.
Once completed, the prototype will transmit information to health authorities via radio to transmit data, as this is more energy efficient than WiFi, allowing for real-time mapping of mosquito presence. With this in mind, the Interactive Technologies Institute, University College London and the Madeira Regional Directorate of Health signed a research protocol to develop a surveillance system on the island of Madeira.
In the future, the researchers want to further develop the technology so that it can distinguish mosquitoes from other insects. In addition to its original purpose, researchers can use the same technology to monitor other insect species of particular interest, such as bees and other pollinators, whose populations have settled in recent years.
