Noninvasive direct bilirubin detection by spectral analysis of color images using a Mini-LED light source

Abstract

Urine test paper is a standard, noninvasive detection method for direct bilirubin, but this method can only achieve qualitative analysis and cannot achieve quantitative analysis. This study used Mini-LEDs as the light source, and direct bilirubin was oxidized to biliverdin by an enzymatic method with ferric chloride (FeCl3) for labeling. Images were captured with a smartphone and evaluated for red (R), green (G), and blue (B) colors to analyze the linear relationship between the spectral change of the test paper image and the direct bilirubin concentration. This method achieved noninvasive detection of bilirubin. The experimental results demonstrated that Mini-LEDs can be used as the light source to analyze the grayscale value of the image RGB. For the direct bilirubin concentration range of 0.1–2 mg/dL, the green channel had the highest coefficient of determination coefficient (R2) of 0.9313 and a limit of detection of 0.56 mg/dL. With this method, direct bilirubin concentrations higher than 1.86 mg/dL can be quantitatively analyzed with the advantage of rapid and noninvasive detection.

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“…Hyperbilirubinemia, also known as jaundice, results from a high level of bilirubin in the blood, resulting in a yellow coloration of skin and tissue. 101 Toward diagnosis of jaundice, R.S. Aparna et al used BSA-CuNCs as the colorimetric probe for the detection of bilirubin.…”

“…The liver metabolizes bilirubin to excrete it from the body after it is produced by the catabolism of hemoglobin in red blood cells. Hyperbilirubinemia, also known as jaundice, results from a high level of bilirubin in the blood, resulting in a yellow coloration of skin and tissue . Toward diagnosis of jaundice, R.S.…”