Fig. 1

Overview of the multiplexed fluidic plunger mechanism used to measure trophozoite-infected red blood cells. a The microfluidic device measures ~40 mm by 20 mm and consists of a cell inlet and outlet reservoir, a long pressure attenuator and b deformability microarray, made up of a rectangular microchannel with 2 loading microchannels and 2 bypass microchannels surrounding 34 parallel deformation microchannels with a microconstriction width of ~2.5 µm and a height of ~3.7 µm. RBCs are loaded into the deformation microchannel under very low pressure. The pressure is then incrementally increased until the cell transits the microconstriction. c The pressure required for the trophozoite-infected RBC (RBCs with a black pigment) to transit the microconstriction is indicative of the cell’s deformability [21]. d Giemsa-stained blood smear confirming the pigmented iRBCs measured by the device are trophozoites