A Fast and Effective System for Detection of Neonatal Jaundice with a Dynamic Threshold White Balance Algorithm.

Wei-Yen Hsu,Han-Chang Cheng

doi:10.3390/healthcare9081052

Abstract

Neonatal jaundice is caused by high levels of bilirubin in the body, which most commonly appears within three days of birth among newborns. Neonatal jaundice detection systems can take pictures in different places and upload them to the system for judgment. However, the white balance problem of the images is often encountered in these detection systems. The color shift images induced by different light haloes will result in the system causing errors in judging the images. The true color of images is very important information when the detection system judges the jaundice value. At present, most systems adopt specific assumption methods and rely on color charts to adjust images. In this study, we propose a novel white balance method with dynamic threshold to screen appropriate feature factors at different color temperatures iteratively and make the adjustment results of different images close to the same. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method achieves superior results in comparison with several traditional approaches.

Highlights

Jaundice is caused by excessive bilirubin content in the human body [1] and causes yellow or green pigmentation in the skin or sclera
Neonatal jaundice is a common disease among newborns, approximately 84% of whom experience it [4]
This study explored the use of digital applications for neonatal jaundice detection

Summary

Introduction

Jaundice is caused by excessive bilirubin content in the human body [1] and causes yellow or green pigmentation in the skin or sclera. Newborns with jaundice usually show symptoms within 3 days after delivery, but most patients recover naturally without complications. Neonatal jaundice is a common disease among newborns, approximately 84% of whom experience it [4]. Performing jaundice diagnosis away from the hospital is nearly impossible. The bilirubin content peaks within a few days after discharge from the hospital [5,6]; visual observation of neonatal jaundice symptoms by parents is the most common detection method. Remote healthcare platforms may be used to acquire information and advice when performing neonatal jaundice diagnosis at home [2]

Methods

Results

Conclusion