The application detects anemia with the picture of a patient's fingernail



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Scientists have developed a smartphone app that can only detect a person's blood hemoglobin level with a single photo of the nails. With this, it is possible to diagnose anemia without the need for blood tests.

The idea of ​​the application was born because of the health problems of one of the researchers involved. Rob Mannino suffers from beta-thalbademia, a condition that can lead to anemic conditions.

"The treatment of my illness requires monthly blood transfusions," says Mannino. "Doctors would do more tests for my hemoglobin levels if they could, but it's difficult to go to the hospital between two transfusions for a blood test." my doctors estimate when I will need the transfusion. "

"Thanks to the photos taken before and after the transfusions, as hemoglobin levels changed, the technology could be perfected constantly," says Wilbur Lam of Emory University in the United States . "It was his perfect object of study."

With a precision similar to traditional methods, the application – which should be commercialized in 2019 – should not be used for the initial diagnosis, according to the researchers, but only for patient follow-up. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

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