Combined reflectance spectroscopy and stochastic modeling approach for noninvasive hemoglobin determination via palpebral conjunctiva

A combination of stochastic photon propagation model in a multilayered human eyelid tissue and reflectance spectroscopy was used to study palpebral conjunctiva spectral reflectance for hemoglobin (Hgb) determination. The developed model is the first biologically relevant model of eyelid tissue, which was shown to provide very good approximation to the measured spectra. Tissue optical parameters were defined using previous histological and microscopy studies of a human eyelid. After calibration of the model parameters the responses of reflectance spectra to Hgb level and blood oxygenation variations were calculated. The stimulated reflectance spectra in adults with normal and low Hgb levels agreed well with experimental data for Hgb concentrations from 8.1 to 16.7 g/dL. The extracted Hgb levels were compared with in vitro Hgb measurements. The root mean square error of cross-validation was 1.64 g/dL. The method was shown to provide 86% sensitivity estimates for clinically diagnosed anemia cases. A combination of the model with spectroscopy measurements provides a new tool for noninvasive study of human conjunctiva to aid in diagnosing blood disorders such as anemia.