| dc.description.abstract | Manykinds of HIV testing kits have recently become available to be used in determining whetheran individual's blood contains HIV virus or not. In the determine method of the HIV rapidtestprocedure, when a drop of blood is introduced at the lower testing region of the test kit, a redhorizontal line appears on the test section indicating the presence of the HIV virus. The <:...absenceof the red line shows that the blood does not contain the virus. However, a similar red linemustappear at the control section of the kit to show that the test procedure is successful and complete.The reading, interpretation and confidentiality of the HIV test result has often been abusedby the medics and the counselors. There has been an immense widespread of HIV due to people's ignorance of their status. The spread can be curbed by introducing a human friendly, confidential,automatic and reliable testing system that has been developed by this study. In this study,an electronic system that automatically acquires the red color signals that appear on the testkitshas been developed. The system analyses the color signals, processes them, displays and relaysthe test result to the client. The main objective of the study was to design and develop a real-timeHIV test analyzer based on computer aided image processing technique and. An image processing software in a client/server system was created. The system used Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), digitalcamera to capture the image and the programmed software,developed in C#, processes the captured image and sends the testing results to the displayunit. This technique will not only eliminate the human error associated with the use of HNtesting kits, but will also improve the testing productivity in comparison to those achieved by the trained technicians. It will also enhance the confidentiality of the test result hence reducingthe stigma associated with the disease and encourage more people to know their HIV status.The system can be installed in our medical facilities and at the Voluntary Counseling and Testing(VCT) to aid the medical personnel in HIV screening and testing. The system has been testedsuccessfully and the testing results have proved that the system is reliable | en_US |
