Design and development of a noninvasive haemoglobin meter with Android application

Abstract

Haemoglobin (Hb) is the protein molecule in the red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues in the body and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues back to the lungs. It is very important in the due to the fact that if anyone is deficient of the required level of body Hb, it can lead to kidney failure or anaemia. Haemoglobin measurement is performed by invasive method which means the insertion of a syringe into the vein in the arm or body of a patient in order to collect the blood sample of the person. The level of haemoglobin present in the body depend on the age and gender. After the collection of the sample, the blood is taken to the laboratory for chemical analysis after which the haemoglobin concentration in the blood is detected. Although, the accuracy is high but it has its shortcomings which include delay in result processing and discomfort suffered by patient due to blood transfusion, infected blood sample and lack of continuous monitoring in critical situations. Non-invasive Haemoglobin measurement is presently preferred to the invasive because it is user friendly. This system is designed with the combination of the two latest and most demanding technologies which are Android and Embedded systems. Android is a Linux based operating system designed primarily for mobile devices and it is open source. There are so many applications that are already developed on android and are available at free cost for its users. At the controlling section of this system, there is bluetooth module and the microcontroller. The bluetooth module receives command from the Android application and transfers this command to the microcontroller. The latter reads the haemoglobin concentration of the patient under test. The haemoglobin level can also be displayed on the liquid crystal display unit. More advanced sensor like photopletismography can be used instead of ECG, so that the system can detect the oxygen level, sugar level, pulse rate and blood pressure.