Scientists from the University of Washington have come up with BiliScreen, which contains algorithms that work through the camera of a mobile phone to identify the level of bilirubin in the eyes which can point to some illnesses. It seems that the smartphone is becoming an indispensable medical tool.
COULD DISEASE BE DIAGNOSED WITH A SELFIE?
“A number of news outlets are now reporting that there have been more deaths from selfie than there have been from shark attacks“.
But selfies aren’t all bad. You can early-detect diseases, for example, like pancreatic cancer, whose cunning lies in its “quiet nature”. Doctors diagnose most patients when it’s already too late. If you catch it at an early stage, though… how do we do that?
Scientists from the University of Washington came up with a method that’s interesting, accessible to everyone, and very accurate (90%). You only need two things – a cell phone and a selfie app.
They call the app BiliScreen, and it contains algorithms that work through the camera to identify the level of bilirubin in the eyes.
SELFIE AGAINST CANCER
Yes, you guessed it – with this form of cancer, bilirubin levels increase in the sclera of the eyes and turn them yellow, similar to hepatitis.
The yellowness is a bad sign, indicating that cancer has already developed. Therefore, it is important to have detected the problem “yesterday”.
BiliScreen does just that, because it can detect bilirubin at even a very low intensity. This gives the person a chance.
Interestingly, even a blood test is more expensive. But the main thing is that the program is effective even before all symptoms arise, which makes surgery a possibility.
It’s clear that some of this depends on the lighting of the room, weather, and the like, so there is a special box that blocks external light, as well as paper glasses.
It seems that the smartphone is becoming an indispensable medical tool. There are apps that allow you to diagnose a number of other problems.
Vadim Avrukin
