Smartphone app measures hemoglobin

The app’s specificity was 71% when using just the phone or the incandescent light bulb and 77% with the LED lights, whereas Masimo Pronto’s specificity was 88%.

Next steps

The researchers said HemaApp is not intended to replace blood tests, which remain the most accurate way to measure hemoglobin. But the early test results suggest HemaApp can be an effective and affordable initial screening tool to determine whether further blood testing is warranted.

“Anemia is one of the most common problems affecting adults and children worldwide,” said study author Doug Hawkins, MD, of Seattle Children’s Hospital.

“The ability to screen quickly with a smartphone-based test could be a huge improvement to delivering care in limited-resource environments.”

Next research steps include wider national and international testing of HemaApp, collecting more data to improve accuracy rates, and using smartphones to try to detect abnormal hemoglobin properties that could help screen for sickle cell disease and other blood disorders.

“We’re just starting to scratch the surface here,” Dr Patel said. “There’s a lot that we want to tackle in using phones for non-invasively screening disease.”