Imagine a system that can detect within one second whether a newborn baby has jaundice, a condition affecting 60 per cent of infants, and in severe cases leading to brain damage and hearing loss.
Visualise that system kickstarting a treatment regime immediately and notifying a nurse by text message.
Thanks to researchers from Iraq and Adelaide, all three scenarios are now possible.
Engineers from the University of South Australia and Middle Technical University have designed imaging software that can accurately diagnose jaundice in the blink of an eye, automatically turn on a blue LED light to counteract it and send the diagnosis in an SMS to the carer.
Jaundice is a common condition in newborns, especially premature babies, where there is an overload of an orange-yellow pigment called bilirubin in the bloodstream. It normally resolves quickly when the baby’s liver is mature enough to remove it from the body.
However, in severe cases of jaundice, caused by sickle cell anaemia, blood disorders and lack of certain enzymes, phototherapy is normally used to treat the condition, using fluorescent blue light to break down the bilirubin in the baby’s skin.
UniSA remote sensing engineer Professor Javaan Chahl says jaundice is particularly prevalent in developing countries where there often isn’t the equipment or trained medical staff to effectively treat it.
“Using image processing techniques extracted from data captured by the camera, we can cheaply and accurately screen newborns for jaundice in a non-invasive way, before taking a blood test,” Prof Chahl says.
“When the bilirubin levels reach a certain threshold, a microcontroller triggers blue LED phototherapy and sends details to a mobile phone.
“This can be done in one second, literally, which can make all the difference in severe cases, where brain damage and hearing loss can result if treatment is not administered quickly.”
Researchers tested the system in an intensive care unit in Mosul, Iraq, on 20 newborns diagnosed with jaundice. A second data set captured 16 images of newborns, five of whom were healthy, and the remainder jaundiced. The system was also successfully tested on four other manikins with white and brown skin colours, with and without jaundice pigmentation.
“Previous research using sensors to find a non-invasive way to detect jaundice has fallen short. Methods trialled have been unreliable, costly, inefficient and in some cases caused infections and allergies where sensors needed skin contact,” Prof Chahl says.
“Our system overcomes these obstacles by immediately detecting jaundice based on a novel digital representation of colour which allows high diagnostic accuracy at a relatively low cost. It could be widely used in hospitals worldwide and medical centres where laboratory facilities and trained medical staff are not available.”
Original Article: Diagnosing jaundice in the blink of an eye from a digital camera
More from: University of South Australia
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Jaundice
- Essex coroner to hold inquest into man's death at Colchester Hospital
David Heffer died at Colchester Hospital last month, and coroner Sonia Hayes has said she will open a full inquest next year into his death.
- Fundraising meet tomorrow
Vengoor panchayat to hold fundraising meet for jaundice patient's treatment. 171 cases reported since April 17. KWA takes measures to prevent further infections. Elderly woman dies from infection.
- Keep jaundice away this summer
W hy is jaundice common in summer and monsoon? Dr Rakesh Gupta, senior consultant, internal medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, says, “During summer, high temperatures and ...
- Jaundice cases at Vengoor rise to 143
Jaundice cases at Vengoor panchayat have risen to 143 after an outbreak caused by contaminated water supply. Three patients are critical, one on ventilator support. Fever survey initiated to identify ...
- First detection of hepatitis E virus from urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the Republic of Korea
Hepatitis E virus (HEV), an emerging zoonotic pathogen, poses a significant public health concern worldwide. Recently, rat HEV (Rocahepevirus ratti genotype C1; HEV-C1) has been reported to cause ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Jaundice
[google_news title=”” keyword=”jaundice” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Jaundice detection
- How preventive health check-ups help in early detection, treatment of diseases
Proper detection of potentially fatal health conditions or diseases at an early stage lowers the chances of undergoing surgeries and chronic medical conditions ...
- First detection of hepatitis E virus from urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the Republic of Korea
Hepatitis E virus (HEV), an emerging zoonotic pathogen, poses a significant public health concern worldwide. Recently, rat HEV (Rocahepevirus ratti genotype C1; HEV-C1) has been reported to cause ...
- Pancreatic cancer: Symptoms, causes and treatment
As one of the world’s leading experts in pancreatic cancer, Prof Andrew Biankin is all too familiar with the aura of dread which surrounds the disease. “There’s something about the cancer that makes ...
- Jaundice Meter JM-105 from Drägerwerk
With the Jaundice Meter JM-105 you can accurately identify at-risk infants as young as 35 weeks gestational age. Effective screening can decrease readmission rates and durations of stay.
- Screening Newborns for Jaundice Using Smartphone Cameras
Intermountain Health and Picterus AS are building an application that can accurately determine bilirubin levels in infants using a smartphone’s camera ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Jaundice detection
[google_news title=”” keyword=”jaundice detection” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]