New York: Biomedical engineers have developed a novel smartphone application that could non-invasively detect anaemia without the need for a blood test. The app uses photos of a person’s fingernails taken on a smartphone to accurately measure how much haemoglobin is in their blood.
Fingernail beds are ideal for detection of anaemia because they do not contain melanin — pigment that gives human skin, hair, and eyes their colour — indicating that the test can be valid for people with a variety of skin tones. “All other ‘point-of-care’ anaemia detection tools require external equipment, and represent trade-offs between invasiveness, cost, and accuracy,” said principal investigator Wilbur Lam, Associate Professor from Emory University in the US.
“This is a standalone app whose accuracy is on par with currently available point-of-care tests without the need to draw blood,” said Lam. The app is particularly helpful for pregnant women, women with abnormal menstrual bleeding, runners/athletes, and patients with chronic anaemia as they can monitor their disease and identify the times when they need to adjust their therapies or receive transfusions, the researchers said. (IANS)
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