Robert Mannino

PhD Proposal Presentation

Date: Friday, June 24, 2016

Time: 1:00 PM

Location: HSRB Auditorium

Committee Members:

Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD (Advisor)

Jeanne Boudreaux, MD

Gari Clifford, PhD

Lee Cooper, PhD

Peng Qiu, PhD

A Non-invasive, Image-based, Smartphone App for Diagnosing Anemia

Anemia, characterized by low red blood cell and blood hemoglobin concentrations, afflicts nearly one-third of the world’s population, especially young children, the elderly, and women of childbearing age. Left untreated, individuals suffering from anemia can suffer fatigue, weakness, and life threatening cardiovascular collapse in severe cases. At-risk individuals, especially those with chronic conditions, therefore need to be regularly tested to prevent these symptoms. Moreover, in resource-poor settings where anemia is the most prevalent worldwide, the gold-standard diagnostic test for anemia, a complete blood count via a clinical hematology analyzer, is cost-prohibitive. While medical infrastructure is lacking in resource-poor settings, the mobile phone infrastructure is paradoxically state-of-the-art. Clinical pallor determined by physical examination has long been used in anemia diagnosis, and the imaging capabilities of modern smartphones are sufficiently advanced, such that smartphone platform-based image analysis can accurately take the place of physical examinations by a physician. The overall goal of this work is to leverage the imaging capabilities of smartphones with previous physical examination findings to develop a non-invasive smartphone app capable of accurately estimating blood hemoglobin concentration using only smartphone images. By requiring nothing but a smartphone, this non-invasive diagnostic tool will revolutionize anemia screening worldwide by functioning as a self-monitoring tool for patients that can reduce clinic visits, aid in lowering medical cost, and inform healthcare resource allocation decisions in resource-poor settings.