Smartphone snap of the eyelid can detect signs of anaemia

May 25, 2020

Diagnoses of blood disorders usually eat up time, but new software has been developed to ease the process – using a smartphone camera, the software assesses levels of haemoglobin in red blood cells to check for conditions like anaemia or kidney injuries. The team of scientists at Purdue University (Purdue), US, hopes to offer this less invasive method that could “be put to use in developing areas.”

“The idea is to get a spectrum of colors using a simple photo,” said Sang Mok Park, a postdoctoral student in biomedical engineering. Park is part of a team led by associate professor Young Kim. Together, they have developed the software is based on a new algorithm that can turn low-resolution smartphone photos (of a person’s inner eyelid) into high-resolution digital spectral signals which correlates to their blood haemoglobin level(s).

The team’s software performed at a comparable level when measuring a range of blood haemoglobin values against regular blood tests. Although the software requires a separate computer to operate, the scientists expect it could be incorporated into a smartphone app for easy use; the portable solution could also prove highly valuable in developing countries for bedside or remote testing of blood haemoglobin by detecting anaemia,acute kidney injury, haemorrhages, and other conditions related to haemoglobin levels in the blood.

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