In many parts of the world, babies often leave the hospital before jaundice can set in. Worldwide, it's still a very important cause of death and disability,” said Judith Meek, a neonatal care researcher at University College London. “If it gets to a dangerous level, it can cause brain damage, and some babies will even die. Jaundice may require phototherapy or more invasive treatments, but if left unchecked, it can have devastating consequences. While jaundice is common in newborns because their immature livers may not effectively clear bilirubin, infants in sub-Saharan Africa are especially at risk due to the prevalence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, a genetic disorder that causes red blood cells to break down prematurely. This color change results from excess blood levels of bilirubin, a yellow substance produced when red blood cells degrade. If it’s yellowīabies with jaundice typically exhibit a yellowish tinge to the skin and the whites of the eyes. By creating an accessible and affordable screening tool, the team hopes to improve detection, timely intervention, and long-term outcomes for pediatric patients in low-resource communities. Their color science-based approach quantifies color in specific facial regions to identify children affected by jaundice and anemia. Researchers at University College London and the University of Ghana have developed smartphone colorimetry technology to screen for conditions that give rise to unique pigmentation changes in bodily surfaces. The chartreuse pout perfectly captures the feeling of nausea, while the icy blue grimace effectively conveys hypothermia.īeyond providing a colorful shorthand to communicate the state of one’s health, smartphones can actually measure specific hues to help diagnose disease. As the caricatured faces of smartphone emoticons reveal, color is integral to the perception of various ailments.
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