Noninvasive Hematocrit Monitoring Based on Parameter-optimization of a LED Finger Probe

An optical method of measuring hematocrit noninvasively is presented. An LED Light with multiple wavelengths was irradiated on fingernail and transmitted light from the finger was measured to predict hematocrit. A finger probe contained an LED array and detector. Our previous experience showed that prediction accuracy was sensitive to reliability of the finger probe hardware and we optimized the finger probe parameters such as the internal color, detector area and the emission area of a light source based on Design of Experiment. Using the optimized finger probe, we developed a hematocrit monitoring system and tested with 549 persons. For the calibration model with 368 persons, a regression coefficient of 0.74 and a standard deviation of 3.67 and the mean percent error of $8\%$ were obtained. Hematocrits for 181 persons were predicted. We achieved a mean percent error of $8.2\%$ where the regression coefficient was 0.68 and the standard deviation was 3.69.