World Innovations: Non-Invasive Anemia Diagnosis

Researchers have found a way to detect anemia- at the press of a button.

Sources- https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2020/Q2/smartphone-app-to-help-assess-anemia-by-taking-a-picture-of-a-persons-eyelid.html and https://www.nibib.nih.gov/news-events/newsroom/new-way-track-blood-hemoglobin-levels-may-be-your-fingertips

Recently, there have been big improvements in the diagnosis world, particularly in terms of blood-related diseases (remember Theranos, which was billed as the company that revolutionize diagnosis, everyone?) Unlike Theranos, none of these apps are trying to prick your blood, but they do target blood-related diseases.

Anemia is caused by low red blood cell count or low levels of hemoglobin, and thus, testing is required. While going to the hospital might take some time and an injection, researchers at Emory University have found out a way to do so using a smartphone app, where you take a photo of your fingernails and the app predicts it. For people with chronic anemia who need regular blood transfusions, the app can tell you when you need your transfusions as your hemoglobin level drops.

An app from Purdue University takes a photo of someone’s inner eyelid to determine their red blood cell count. It uses spectroscopic analysis, which uses hemoglobin’s light absorbance properties to find the hemoglobin count, and an algorithm to increase the resolution of the photo taken.

I believe that self diagnosis is going to be an increasingly common thing, as people won’t have to wait hours at the hospital to get diagnosed (especially if it’s an urgent disease, you can save some steps in the process and buy the patient a little bit more time). Even when you don’t have any symptoms, it’s worthwhile checking for any underlying health problems like serious diseases with no symptoms (e.g. HIV), or nutritional deficiencies in people following special diets (e.g. ketogenic, plant-based).

Other interesting avenues of detection are to get people’s coughs, sneezes, or bodily fluids, which might tell you a lot about them. You might have devices that scan the air for any droplets.

This is why biomedical engineering is one of my favourite areas of engineering- you can make sure results are consistent and do things that normal doctors can’t!