Smartphone-based Hemoglobin Analyzer (sHeA)

Smartphone-based Hemoglobin Analyzer (sHeA)

Anemia (low level of hemoglobin) is a major worldwide public health problem. Anemia affects about 1.62 billion people of all ranges (children, men, women, and pregnant women). A person can face significant health consequences (fatigue, heart failure, pregnancy disorders and poor physical/cognitive conditions) if the anemia is undetected and unmanaged. To detect the level of hemoglobin, existing portable hemoglobin analyzers are unaffordable and inadequate in low- and middle-income country settings. Since the smartphone users are increasing in the developing countries, it would wise to use the smartphone technology as the ‘right’ technology for building a point of care tool towards the noninvasive hemoglobin measurement. In this project, we will develop a portable smartphone-based noninvasive hemoglobin analyzer (sHeA) where we capture eyelid image and analyze each pixel’s color information of the eyelid photo to predict similar clinically measured hemoglobin level. The project is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH).