Smart trap could help monitor and control dengue mosquito circulation

By Elton Alisson  |  FAPESP Innovative R&D – Researchers at the National Telecommunications Institute (INATEL) in Santa Rita do Sapucaí, state of Minas Gerais (Brazil), have developed a smart trap for capturing and monitoring female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit the dengue, yellow fever, Zika and chikungunya viruses.

The prototype of the device, produced through a project supported by FAPESP under a cooperation agreement with the Ministries of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and Communications (MC) and the Minas Gerais State Research Foundation (FAPEMIG), was described in an article published in the journal Sensors.

“The idea is that the trap can be used by epidemiological surveillance agencies to improve the monitoring and control of the spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, especially in urban areas that are difficult to access,” Samuel Baraldi Mafra, professor at INATEL and coordinator of the project, told Innovative R&D.

The trap, shaped like a dodecahedron (with 12 sides) and 50 centimeters high, combines Internet of Things (IoT) devices with high-resolution cameras and advanced machine learning and computer vision algorithms.

The insects are attracted to the trap by a mixture of water, sugar and pheromone placed inside. An internal camera in the device’s inlet tube, which combines night and day vision capabilities, captures images of them in real time and in a wide range of lighting conditions. The images are then processed by an artificial intelligence algorithm that can detect and count the “prisoners” in real time, identifying whether they are Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, bees or butterflies, for example.

“The Aedes aegypti mosquito has certain morphological characteristics, such as white spots and large legs, that are identified by the artificial intelligence algorithm,” says Mafra.

Once an Aedes aegypti is detected, fans located on the front of the trap are autonomously activated. These devices create a flow of air that directs the mosquito into a container of viscous liquid, where it is trapped.

When a bee, butterfly or other winged insect is detected, fans on the back of the trap are activated, creating an air stream that expels the animal from the device.

“The selectivity in classifying insects is one of the main differentials of the trap compared to existing ones. This allows us to avoid catching other insects that are not of interest and are in decline, such as bees,” says Mafra.

The trap also has a Global Positioning System (GPS) module that allows its location to be monitored in real time.

This real-time detection capability facilitates the collection of geospatial data and enables faster analysis of mosquito movement patterns and population densities. In this way, it is possible to obtain immediate data for public health interventions and provide a more detailed and contextualized analysis of mosquito behavior, allowing for more effective control of the diseases transmitted by these vectors, the researchers say.

“The trap’s communication system makes it possible to monitor it remotely and in real time, without having to send someone to the site to see if it is catching mosquitoes,” says Mafra.

Prototype studies

The researchers carried out tests with the trap in the laboratory and in the field, for example in public squares and near streams in Santa Rita do Sapucaí.

The results showed that the system was able to detect Aedes aegypti with 97% accuracy, bees with 100% accuracy, and butterflies with 90.1% accuracy in the laboratory. The results were confirmed by field tests.

“We intend to perfect it, reduce costs and get to a final prototype of the trap. The current version is more for studies,” Mafra ponders.

The current prototype was developed at INATEL’s Ideation Laboratory (Fab Lab). The researchers’ idea is to build the trap with more weather-resistant materials to protect the electronic part of the device from heavy rain and extreme heat, for example.

The article “Implementation of an intelligent trap for effective monitoring and control of the Aedes aegypti mosquito” can be read at: www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/21/6932.