Finger Sensors to Detect Liver Failure
As we go about our daily lives, our red blood cells are broken down and replaced with new cells. This releases a yellow compound called bilirubin which is filtered out of the blood by the liver.
But what happens when the liver no longer functions properly?
Jaundice. This is when that yellow bilirubin builds up in the body, often turning the skin and whites of the eyes yellow. Jaundice is usually clear to see in pale people, but is often missed by doctors when the patient has darker skin. The next step is to try to numerically measure the amount of bilirubin in the patient’s body. Currently, the two standards for detecting jaundice are looking at a person’s skin and performing invasive blood tests. But there’s got to be a better way.
A finger sensor is the solution according to a group at the Technical University of Ostrava. Have you ever had a small device put on your finger to measure your pulse, heart rate, and blood oxygen? This is called a pulse oximeter. Your bilirubin and therefore your liver function can be measured in almost exactly the same way: by using small lights in the finger sensor and recording how much is absorbed by the body. The reason it is easier to read the amount of bilirubin on the finger is that there is less melanin (skin pigment) in the nailbed and underside of the finger, making light readings more accurate when read through dark skin.
Using a finger sensor allows for bilirubin to be read in a portable and accessible way while also being noninvasive, a major plus for people who don’t like needles. A similar product has been put onto the market for infants, showing that the future of liver function readings is moving away from the subjective and away from the more invasive tests.
This will most likely branch out to adults in the coming years, as long as testing and funding stay on track. So, who knows, you might have that pulse oximeter put on your finger a decade in the future and have it track a long list of natural compounds in your blood and skin.
