Total Cholesterol Determined from Photo of Patient's Hand

A total cholesterol test uses a digital camera to take a snapshot of the back of the patient's hand rather than a blood sample.

The photo is cropped and compared with images in a database for known cholesterol levels. The large database of cholesterol levels recorded using standard blood tests was linked to a standardized photograph of the hand for each patient; cholesterol is concentrated in the creases of the fingers.

An image-processing computer program compares the image from a new patient with the thousands of entries in the database and matches it to a specific cholesterol reading.

N.R. Shanker of the Sree Sastha Institute of Engineering and Technology (Chennai, India) and colleagues described how they developed the noninvasive way to test cholesterol levels in patients at increased risk of heart disease in the August 6, 2012, online issue of the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.

The total cholesterol test devised by the scientists is a useful early indicator, but more detailed testing that distinguishes between the high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides is needed for a more accurate health assessment of patients who were found to have high total cholesterol.

However the simple noninvasive and inexpensive method for total cholesterol screening would allow this risk factor to be determined in a much larger patient population without the need for costly and inconvenient blood tests that many patients already fear, said the Chennai-based scientists.

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Sree Sastha Institute of Engineering and Technology