Skip to main content

Non-invasive Anaemia Detection by Analysis of Conjunctival Pallor

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Advanced Computational and Communication Paradigms

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering ((LNEE,volume 475))

Abstract

Anaemia is a condition wherein the number of Red Blood Cells (RBCs) in the body diminishes. This leads to a decline in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Though iron deficiency is one of the prominent factors that cause anaemia, other factors like malaria, improper diet, infections, etc. are also responsible for causing anaemia. The diagnosis of anaemia often commences with a clinical inspection. This is followed by laboratory tests like Complete Blood Count (CBC), reticulocyte count, etc. These tests fall under the invasive category as they necessitate injecting surgical instruments into the patient’s body. The non-invasive methods rely on checking for pallor in regions like tongue, conjunctiva, nailbed, etc. The limitation of this technique is that it is not too reliable in cases of mild anaemia. This dissertation aims to develop a reliable, non-invasive way to diagnose anaemia. A smartphone camera is used to capture the conjunctival region. Thereafter, the image is processed and an Erythema Index (EI) is generated. The EI is used to discern if a person is anaemic or not. The experimental results indicate that the devised technique is able to identify mildly anaemic individuals to a decent level of accuracy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. World Health Organisation (2008) Worldwide prevalence of anaemia report 1993–2005. World Health Organisation, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  2. Kalter HD, Burnham G, Kolstad PR, Hossain M, Schillinger JA, Khan NZ, Saha S, De Wit V, Kenya-Mugisha N, Schwartz B, Black RE (1997) Evaluation of clinical signs to diagnose anaemia in Uganda and Bangladesh, in areas with and without malaria. Bull World Health Organ 75(Suppl 1):103

    Google Scholar 

  3. Zucker JR, Perkins BA, Jafari H, Otieno J, Obonyo C, Campbell CC (1997) Clinical signs for the recognition of children with moderate or severe anaemia in western Kenya. Bull World Health Organ 75(Suppl 1):97

    Google Scholar 

  4. Thaver IH, Baig L (1994) Anaemia in children (part I): can simple observations by primary care providers help in diagnosis? J Pakistan Med Assoc 44:282

    Google Scholar 

  5. Luby SP, Kazembe PN, Redd SC, Ziba C, Nwanyanwu OC, Hightower AW, Franco C, Chitsulo L, Wirima JJ, Olivar MA (1995) Using clinical signs to diagnose anaemia in African children. Bull World Health Organ 73(4):477

    Google Scholar 

  6. Weber MW, Kellingray SD, Palmer A, Jaffar S, Mulholland EK, Greenwood BM (1997) Pallor as a clinical sign of severe anaemia in children: an investigation in the Gambia. Bull World Health Organ 75(Suppl 1):113

    Google Scholar 

  7. Stoltzfus RJ, Edward-Raj A, Dreyfuss ML, Albonico M, Montresor A, Thapa MD, West KP, Chwaya HM, Savioli L, Tielsch J (1999) Clinical pallor is useful to detect severe anemia in populations where anemia is prevalent and severe. J Nutr 129(9):1675–1681

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Chalco JP, Huicho L, Alamo C, Carreazo NY, Bada CA (2005) Accuracy of clinical pallor in the diagnosis of anaemia in children: a meta-analysis. BMC Pediatr 5(1):46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Butt Z, Ashfaq U, Sherazi SF, Jan NU, Shahbaz U (2010) Diagnostic accuracy of pallor for detecting mild and severe anaemia in hospitalized patients. J Pakistan Assoc 60(9):762

    Google Scholar 

  10. Sheth TN, Choudhry NK, Bowes M, Detsky AS (1997) The relation of conjunctival pallor to the presence of anemia. J Gen Intern Med 12(2):102–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Wurapa FK, Bulsara MK, Boatin BA (1986) Evaluation of conjunctival pallor in the diagnosis of anaemia. Journal Tropic Med Hyg 89(1):33–36

    Google Scholar 

  12. Ekunwe EO (1996) Predictive value of conjunctival pallor in the diagnosis of anaemia. West Afr J Med 16(4):246–250

    Google Scholar 

  13. Chowdhury ME, Chongsuvivatwong V, Geater AF, Akhter HH, Winn T (2002) Taking a medical history and using a colour scale during clinical examination of pallor improves detection of anaemia. Tropical Med Int Health 7(2):133–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Van den Broek NR, Ntonya C, Mhango E, White SA (1999) Diagnosing anaemia in pregnancy in rural clinics: assessing the potential of the Haemoglobin Colour Scale. Bulletin World Health Organization 1(77):15–21

    Google Scholar 

  15. Montresor A, Albonico M, Khalfan N, Stoltzfus RJ, Tielsch JM, Chwaya HM, Savioli L (2000) Field trial of a haemoglobin colour scale: an effective tool to detect anaemia in preschool children. Tropical Med Int Health 5(2):129–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Suner S, Crawford G, McMurdy J, Jay G (2007) Non-invasive determination of hemoglobin by digital photography of palpebral conjunctiva. J Emergen Med 33(2):105–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Collings S, Thompson O, Hirst E, Goossens L, George A, Weinkove R (2016) Non-invasive detection of anaemia using digital photographs of the conjunctiva. PLoS One 11(4):e0153286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Yamamoto T, Takiwaki H, Arase S, Ohshima H (2008) Derivation and clinical application of special imaging by means of digital cameras and ImageJ freeware for quantification of erythema and pigmentation. Skin Res Technol 14(1):26–34

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Medha Sharma .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Sharma, M., Garg, B. (2018). Non-invasive Anaemia Detection by Analysis of Conjunctival Pallor. In: Bhattacharyya, S., Gandhi, T., Sharma, K., Dutta, P. (eds) Advanced Computational and Communication Paradigms. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 475. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8240-5_25

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8240-5_25

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-8239-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-8240-5

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics