Table 6.

Description of operational and economic aspects of the diagnostic tests in field conditions in malaria endemic areas^*†

	Feature	Description			Score
		Microscopy	nPCR	Histopathology	Microscopy	nPCR	Histopathology
Personnel	Infrastructure	Simple	Complex	Complex	1	2	2
	Equipment cost	Low	High	Very high	1	2	3
	Training	Simple	Complex	Very complex	1	2	3
	Experience	Very high	High	Very high	3	1	2
	Cost	Low	High	Very high	1	2	3
	Cost per test (US$)	1.5	2.5	7.5	1	2	5
	Sample preparation	Simple	Complex	Complex	1	2	2
	Time to a result	1 hour	24 hours	> 24 hours	1	24	48
	Automation	No	Yes	No	2	0	2
	Field application	Yes	No	No	0	2	2
	Single sample testing	Yes	No	Yes	0	2	0
Total Score					12	41	72

^*See Methods section (Operational and costs assessment) for term definition.

^†The lowest score allows ranking as the “best” and the highest as the “worst” test.