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Medical devices
Original article
Comparison of the NBM 200 non-invasive haemoglobin sensor with Sahli's haemometer among adolescent girls in rural India
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  1. A S Ahankari1,2,
  2. J V Dixit3,
  3. A W Fogarty1,
  4. L J Tata1,
  5. P R Myles1
  1. 1Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
  2. 2Halo Medical Foundation, Andur, Maharashtra, India
  3. 3Government Medical College of Latur, Latur, Maharashtra, India
  1. Correspondence to Dr AS Ahankari, Halo Medical Foundation, At Post Andur, Block Tuljapur, Dist Osmanabad, Maharashtra 413603, India; dr.anandahankari{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Objective The study objective was to compare haemoglobin (Hb) measurements between the NBM 200 (non-invasive Hb sensor) and Sahli's haemometer in adolescent girls in a rural Indian setting.

Methods Participants included girls aged between 13 and 17 years from 34 villages in Tuljapur and Lohara blocks of Osmanabad district, Maharashtra, India. Hb measurements from the non-invasive sensor (NBM 200) were compared with measurements obtained from Sahli's haemometer using the Bland-Altman plot, Spearman correlation coefficient, sensitivity, specificity and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (AUROC).

Results Paired measurements from both methods were obtained from 766 adolescent girls (N=766). Hb levels estimated by Sahli's haemometer ranged from 5.0 to 14.0 g/dL (mean 10.1 g/dL, SD 1.41), whereas measurements obtained from the NBM 200 ranged from 9.5 to 15.2 g/dL (mean 12.8 g/dL, SD 1.42). The Bland-Altman analysis indicated a mean difference of −2.70 g/dL (95% CI −2.84 to −2.55) demonstrating an overestimation of Hb measurement by the NBM 200 compared with the Sahli's haemometer measurements. The NBM 200 showed low sensitivity (23.6%) and moderate specificity (61.8%) for the diagnosis of anaemia. The AUROC score was 0.43 indicating an underestimation of anaemia in our study population by the NBM 200.

Conclusions Hb measurements obtained from the NBM 200 were consistently higher leading to an underestimation of prevalence of anaemia compared with Sahli's haemometer estimates among adolescent girls in India.

  • Sahli's Hemometer
  • Maharashtra
  • Non invasive haemoglobin
  • India
  • Adolescent

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjinnov-2016-000139

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter Follow Anand Ahankari at @AnandAhankari

    • Contributors The study was designed by AWF, PRM, LJT and ASA. ASA obtained the data and ASA, AWF and PRM conducted the analysis. All authors (ASA, PRM, AWF, JVD and LJT) participated in manuscript preparation and approved the final manuscript for submission.

    • Funding This study was conducted as part of ASA's PhD programme with the University of Nottingham UK, which was sponsored by the University's Vice Chancellor Scholarship for Research Excellence International 2013 (Tuition fee support, Reference 12031). The anaemia project conducted in Maharashtra, India, was a joint collaboration between the university and HMF, with the latter providing laboratory testing and data storage facilities. Project management and data collection were funded by Dr Hardikar through the Maharashtra Foundation, USA. Professor (Mr) and Mrs Chawathe, Mumbai, India, provided generous support for ASA's study. ASA also received a bursary from the Durgadevi Charitable Trust, India, during the PhD programme. The non-invasive NBM 200 unit was sponsored by the Clinical Translational Research Priority Group Award for International Collaboration, University of Nottingham, UK (grant code A2RN72).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Government Medical College Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India (reference number Pharma/IEC/GMA/196/2014), and the Medical School Ethics Committee of the University of Nottingham, UK (reference number E10102013).

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.