An automated algorithm for the quantification of hCG level in novel fabric-based home pregnancy test kits

We report a new image processing algorithm that extracts quantitative information about the concentration of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), an important early pregnancy marker, from commercially available qualitative home pregnancy kits. The algorithm could potentially be ported onto a simple camera based cell phone making it a low-cost, portable point-of-care device as opposed to costly and time consuming clinical labs for accurate quantitative determination of hCG. The algorithm takes the image of the test result as input, classifies and determines the hCG concentration based on the RGB intensities of the test line. The efficacy of the algorithm is demonstrated using control samples on commercially available strips as well as novel fabric based strips designed for this application.