Mobile technologies are emerging as one way to help address health challenges in many countries, including in Least Developed Countries. Mobile technology can reach a large share of the population but in order to provide effective support to healthcare services, technology, information collection and dissemination, and work processes need to be well aligned. The thesis uses a design science methodological approach and mixes qualitative and quantitative data analysis to address the question of, How can mobile technologies be effectively integrated with routine healthcare services? The study concerns the design, implementation, and evaluation of a mobile technology-based system, called SMSaúde, with the aim of improving the care of patients with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Mozambique. The work started with the elicitation of functional and user requirements, based on focus group discussions. An important challenge, as in many mHealth interventions, was the integration with routine healthcare services and the existing IT systems, as well as developing a scalable technical structure. The system has now been in routine use since 2013 in more than 16 healthcare clinics in Mozambique. Evaluation was done by a randomised controlled study. Analysis of patient records showed that retention in care in urban areas was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. In a user study both patients and health professionals were very positive to the system. The thesis contributes to research by demonstrating how information system artefacts can be constructed and successfully implemented in resource-constrained settings. The practical contributions include the designed artefact itself as well as improved healthcare practices and mHealth policy recommendations.

Introdução: O câncer do colo do útero é um problema de saúde publica, é uma importante causa de morbidade e mortalidade em mulheres de todo mundo. O rastreamento com a citologia de Papanicolaou, quando realizado periodicamente demonstrou ser eficaz na redução de incidência e mortalidade em países desenvolvidos. O rastreamento com unidade móvel de prevenção é uma estratégia para o diagnóstico precoce do câncer do colo do útero. Objetivo: Avaliar os resultados do programa de rastreamento com busca ativa e unidade móvel na detecção precoce do câncer do colo do útero na população das zonas urbana e rural de Barretos. Casuística e Métodos: Estudo retrospectivo, descritivo, com 16.849 mulheres na zona urbana e 1.055 na zona rural de Barretos. O projeto inclui visitas domiciliares repetidas de um profissional de saúde da unidade móvel do Hospital de Câncer de Barretos (HCB), entrevista e coleta de Papanicolaou. Mulheres com diagnóstico citológico de ASC-US, ASC-H, lesões intraepiteliais e carcinoma invasivo, foram convocadas para colposcopia e todas as mulheres com histopatológico de carcinoma foram tratadas e permanecem em seguimento no HCB. Os resultados deste programa foram comparados com dados do registro sobre câncer do colo do útero do Departamento Regional de Saúde V (DRS-V) e da Fundação Oncocentro de São Paulo (FOSP), do mesmo período. Resultados: Na zona urbana 10.350 (61,4%) mulheres foram examinadas e realizaram o exame de Papanicolaou, com taxa de cobertura de 62,9% nas mulheres em idade alvo (25 a 60 anos) do programa brasileiro. Foram identificados 35 casos de carcinoma, sendo 77,1% de carcinoma espinocelular in situ. A idade média foi 41,9 anos, 81,4% das mulheres examinadas eram das classes socioeconômicas D e E, e 88,6% apresentavam exame prévio de Papanicolaou. Na zona rural, 1.055 (100%) mulheres foram entrevistadas, examinadas e realizaram o exame de Papanicolaou, com taxa de cobertura de 74,4% na idade alvo. Foram identificados 6 casos de carcinoma, sendo 83,3% de carcinoma espinocelular in situ. A idade média foi de 39,8 anos, 86,7% nas classes socioeconômicas D e E, e 81,0% das mulheres apresentavam exame de Papanicolaou prévio. Analisamos os dados do programa de rastreamento do HCB e comparamos com os dados, em relação ao estadiamento, da DRS-V e FOSP, no mesmo período. Está análise mostrou que houve uma prevalência de lesões in situ em relação às invasivas no programa de rastreamento do HCB quando comparado à DRS-V (p=0,005) e à FOSP (p<0,001). Conclusões: O rastreamento com busca ativa e unidade móvel é um método efetivo no diagnóstico precoce do câncer do colo do útero / Introduction: Uterine cervical cancer is a public health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality among women worldwide. Screening using the Papanicolaou cytological test, when done repeatedly, has been shown to be effective for reducing the incidence and mortality of this disease in developed countries. Screening with an active search using a mobile unit is a strategy for early diagnosis of uterine cervical cancer. Objective: To evaluate the results from a screening program with an active search using a mobile unit for early detection of uterine cervical cancer among the populations in the urban and rural zones of Barretos. Sample and Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study on 16,849 women in the urban zone and 1,055 in the rural zone of Barretos. The project included repeated home visits by a healthcare professional from the mobile unit of Barretos Cancer Hospital (HCB), interviews and collection of Papanicolaou smears. Women with a cytological diagnosis of ASC-US, ASC-H, intraepithelial lesions and invasive carcinoma were called in for colposcopy examinations. All the women with a histopathological diagnosis of carcinoma were treated and remained under follow-up by HCB. The results were compared with data from the uterine cervical cancer records of the Fifth Regional Health Department (DRS-V) and the Oncocenter Foundation of São Paulo (FOSP), covering the same period. Results: From the urban zone, 10,350 Papanicolaou smears (61.4%) were collected, with a coverage rate of 62.9% of the women at the target age for the Brazilian program. There were 35 cases of carcinoma, of which 77.1% were in situ squamous cell carcinoma. The womens mean age was 41.9 years; 81.4% were in socioeconomic classes D and E; and 88.6% had had a previous Papanicolaou examination. In the rural zone, 1,055 Papanicolaou smears (100.0%) were collected, with a coverage rate of 74.4% of the women at the target age. There were six cases of carcinoma, of which 83.3% were in situ squamous cell carcinoma. The womens mean age was 39.8 years; 86.7% were in socioeconomic classes D and E; and 81.0% had had a previous Papanicolaou examination. We analyzed the data from the HCB screening program in comparison with the staging data from DRS-V and FOSP, over the same period. There were statistically significant differences in the proportions of in situ and invasive carcinoma found in the HCB screening program in relation to DRS-V (p = 0.0046) and in relation to FOSP (p < 0.001). This analysis showed that there was higher prevalence of in situ lesions than of invasive lesions in the HCB screening program. Conclusions: Screening with an active search using a mobile unit is an effective method for early diagnosis of uterine cervical cancer

Introdução: O câncer do colo do útero é um problema de saúde publica, é uma importante causa de morbidade e mortalidade em mulheres de todo mundo. O rastreamento com a citologia de Papanicolaou, quando realizado periodicamente demonstrou ser eficaz na redução de incidência e mortalidade em países desenvolvidos. O rastreamento com unidade móvel de prevenção é uma estratégia para o diagnóstico precoce do câncer do colo do útero. Objetivo: Avaliar os resultados do programa de rastreamento com busca ativa e unidade móvel na detecção precoce do câncer do colo do útero na população das zonas urbana e rural de Barretos. Casuística e Métodos: Estudo retrospectivo, descritivo, com 16.849 mulheres na zona urbana e 1.055 na zona rural de Barretos. O projeto inclui visitas domiciliares repetidas de um profissional de saúde da unidade móvel do Hospital de Câncer de Barretos (HCB), entrevista e coleta de Papanicolaou. Mulheres com diagnóstico citológico de ASC-US, ASC-H, lesões intraepiteliais e carcinoma invasivo, foram convocadas para colposcopia e todas as mulheres com histopatológico de carcinoma foram tratadas e permanecem em seguimento no HCB. Os resultados deste programa foram comparados com dados do registro sobre câncer do colo do útero do Departamento Regional de Saúde V (DRS-V) e da Fundação Oncocentro de São Paulo (FOSP), do mesmo período. Resultados: Na zona urbana 10.350 (61,4%) mulheres foram examinadas e realizaram o exame de Papanicolaou, com taxa de cobertura de 62,9% nas mulheres em idade alvo (25 a 60 anos) do programa brasileiro. Foram identificados 35 casos de carcinoma, sendo 77,1% de carcinoma espinocelular in situ. A idade média foi 41,9 anos, 81,4% das mulheres examinadas eram das classes socioeconômicas D e E, e 88,6% apresentavam exame prévio de Papanicolaou. Na zona rural, 1.055 (100%) mulheres foram entrevistadas, examinadas e realizaram o exame de Papanicolaou, com taxa de cobertura de 74,4% na idade alvo. Foram identificados 6 casos de carcinoma, sendo 83,3% de carcinoma espinocelular in situ. A idade média foi de 39,8 anos, 86,7% nas classes socioeconômicas D e E, e 81,0% das mulheres apresentavam exame de Papanicolaou prévio. Analisamos os dados do programa de rastreamento do HCB e comparamos com os dados, em relação ao estadiamento, da DRS-V e FOSP, no mesmo período. Está análise mostrou que houve uma prevalência de lesões in situ em relação às invasivas no programa de rastreamento do HCB quando comparado à DRS-V (p=0,005) e à FOSP (p<0,001). Conclusões: O rastreamento com busca ativa e unidade móvel é um método efetivo no diagnóstico precoce do câncer do colo do útero / Introduction: Uterine cervical cancer is a public health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality among women worldwide. Screening using the Papanicolaou cytological test, when done repeatedly, has been shown to be effective for reducing the incidence and mortality of this disease in developed countries. Screening with an active search using a mobile unit is a strategy for early diagnosis of uterine cervical cancer. Objective: To evaluate the results from a screening program with an active search using a mobile unit for early detection of uterine cervical cancer among the populations in the urban and rural zones of Barretos. Sample and Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study on 16,849 women in the urban zone and 1,055 in the rural zone of Barretos. The project included repeated home visits by a healthcare professional from the mobile unit of Barretos Cancer Hospital (HCB), interviews and collection of Papanicolaou smears. Women with a cytological diagnosis of ASC-US, ASC-H, intraepithelial lesions and invasive carcinoma were called in for colposcopy examinations. All the women with a histopathological diagnosis of carcinoma were treated and remained under follow-up by HCB. The results were compared with data from the uterine cervical cancer records of the Fifth Regional Health Department (DRS-V) and the Oncocenter Foundation of São Paulo (FOSP), covering the same period. Results: From the urban zone, 10,350 Papanicolaou smears (61.4%) were collected, with a coverage rate of 62.9% of the women at the target age for the Brazilian program. There were 35 cases of carcinoma, of which 77.1% were in situ squamous cell carcinoma. The womens mean age was 41.9 years; 81.4% were in socioeconomic classes D and E; and 88.6% had had a previous Papanicolaou examination. In the rural zone, 1,055 Papanicolaou smears (100.0%) were collected, with a coverage rate of 74.4% of the women at the target age. There were six cases of carcinoma, of which 83.3% were in situ squamous cell carcinoma. The womens mean age was 39.8 years; 86.7% were in socioeconomic classes D and E; and 81.0% had had a previous Papanicolaou examination. We analyzed the data from the HCB screening program in comparison with the staging data from DRS-V and FOSP, over the same period. There were statistically significant differences in the proportions of in situ and invasive carcinoma found in the HCB screening program in relation to DRS-V (p = 0.0046) and in relation to FOSP (p < 0.001). This analysis showed that there was higher prevalence of in situ lesions than of invasive lesions in the HCB screening program. Conclusions: Screening with an active search using a mobile unit is an effective method for early diagnosis of uterine cervical cancer

Healthcare systems have assimilated information and communication technologies in order to improve the quality of healthcare and patient's experience at reduced costs. The increasing digitalization of people's health information raises however new threats regarding information security and privacy. Accidental or deliberate data breaches of health data may lead to societal pressures, embarrassment and discrimination. Information security and privacy are paramount to achieve high quality healthcare services, and further, to not harm individuals when providing care. With that in mind, we give special attention to the category of Mobile Health (mHealth) systems. That is, the use of mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, sensors, PDAs) to support medical and public health. Such systems, have been particularly successful in developing countries, taking advantage of the flourishing mobile market and the need to expand the coverage of primary healthcare programs. Many mHealth initiatives, however, fail to address security and privacy issues. This, coupled with the lack of specific legislation for privacy and data protection in these countries, increases the risk of harm to individuals. The overall objective of this thesis is to enhance knowledge regarding the design of security and privacy technologies for mHealth systems. In particular, we deal with mHealth Data Collection Systems (MDCSs), which consists of mobile devices for collecting and reporting health-related data, replacing paper-based approaches for health surveys and surveillance. This thesis consists of publications contributing to mHealth security and privacy in various ways: with a comprehensive literature review about mHealth in Brazil; with the design of a security framework for MDCSs (SecourHealth); with the design of a MDCS (GeoHealth); with the design of Privacy Impact Assessment template for MDCSs; and with the study of ontology-based obfuscation and anonymisation functions for health data. / Information security and privacy are paramount to achieve high quality healthcare services, and further, to not harm individuals when providing care. With that in mind, we give special attention to the category of Mobile Health (mHealth) systems. That is, the use of mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones, sensors, PDAs) to support medical and public health. Such systems, have been particularly successful in developing countries, taking advantage of the flourishing mobile market and the need to expand the coverage of primary healthcare programs. Many mHealth initiatives, however, fail to address security and privacy issues. This, coupled with the lack of specific legislation for privacy and data protection in these countries, increases the risk of harm to individuals. The overall objective of this thesis is to enhance knowledge regarding the design of security and privacy technologies for mHealth systems. In particular, we deal with mHealth Data Collection Systems (MDCSs), which consists of mobile devices for collecting and reporting health-related data, replacing paper-based approaches for health surveys and surveillance.

Prologue is a health information system developed for underserved communities in Bihar, India. It is aimed at helping people living in poverty and with low literacy to take the right steps to manage their and their family’s health. Bihar suffers from one of the worst healthcare records in the country. This is as much due to the lack of access to the right information as it is due to the economic condition of the region. The inaccessibility of information is aggravated by the complex social set up in these communities, for e.g. women aren’t allowed to leave their homes and community has the strongest influence on an individual’s decision making. To make sure that right information permeates even to the most inaccessible user groups, especially women and to uplift community’s awareness as a whole, two different communication channels were designed-an interactive radio show and a public installation.

Το mHealth, η χρήση δηλαδή φορητών τεχνολογιών για την βελτίωση των παρεχόμενων υπηρεσιών υγείας, είναι σήμερα ένα από τα πιο ταχέως αναπτυσσόμενα πεδία της ηλεκτρονικής υγείας (eHealth). Ο αριθμός των επαγγελματιών υγείας που υιοθετούν έξυπνα κινητά τηλέφωνα (smartphones) για την εκτέλεση πληθώρας λειτουργιών αυξάνεται συνεχώς, εξαιτίας των δυνατοτήτων και της φορητότητας που αυτά παρέχουν. Ταυτόχρονα, τα σφάλματα στη φαρμακευτική αγωγή είναι από τα πιο συνηθισμένα ιατρικά λάθη με επιπτώσεις τόσο στην υγεία του ασθενούς όσο και στις δαπάνες στην υγεία. Η χορήγηση φαρμάκων είναι μια πολύπλοκη διαδικασία, καθώς απαιτεί από τον ειδικό της υγείας την ανάλυση πληθώρας παραγόντων και την ανάκτηση, επεξεργασία και διαχείριση μεγάλου όγκου πληροφορίας. Σύμφωνα με τη βιβλιογραφία, η χρήση τεχνολογιών πληροφορικής για την υποβοήθηση των επαγγελματιών υγείας στη λήψη αποφάσεων κατά τη συνταγογράφηση, μπορεί να συμβάλει σημαντικά στη μείωση των σφαλμάτων φαρμακευτικής αγωγής. Στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας, προχωρήσαμε στη διερεύνηση και αξιολόγηση των σημαντικότερων εφαρμογών έξυπνων κινητών συσκευών για το φάρμακο, με στόχο την εξαγωγή χρήσιμων συμπερασμάτων για τα χαρακτηριστικά και τις λειτουργίες που ενσωματώνουν. Ένα από τα βασικά συμπεράσματα της έρευνας ήταν η απουσία αντίστοιχης εφαρμογής για τα φάρμακα που είναι εγκεκριμένα από τον Εθνικό Οργανισμό Φαρμάκων (ΕΟΦ). Ως εκ τούτου, προχωρήσαμε στο σχεδιασμό και την ανάπτυξη εφαρμογής για τον έλεγχο ασυμβασιών μεταξύ φαρμάκων, η οποία παρέχει επιπλέον τη δυνατότητα προβολής πληροφοριών συνταγολογίου για τα φάρμακα του ΕΟΦ. Ο σχεδιασμός της εφαρμογής έγινε λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τις ανάγκες και τις απαιτήσεις μελλοντικών χρηστών, όπως οι επαγγελματίες υγείας και οι ασθενείς, προκειμένου να διασφαλιστεί η λειτουργικότητα και η ευχρηστία της. Η εν λόγω εφαρμογή προορίζεται για έξυπνες κινητές συσκευές που διαθέτουν λειτουργικό σύστημα Android, ενώ η πληροφορία που ενσωματώνει βασίζεται αποκλειστικά στο εθνικό συνταγολόγιο του ΕΟΦ. / Mobile Health or mHealth, namely the use of mobile and wireless technologies in order to improve health services and achieve health goals, is today one of the most rapidly expanding fields of electronic health (eHealth). The number of health professionals that adopt smartphones to perform multiple tasks, during their everyday medical practice, is increasing constantly. This is due to the fact that smartphones provide advanced computing capabilities and high portability. Simultaneously, medication errors are among the most common medical errors which have negative impact both for the health of the patient and the expenditure on health sector. Drug prescribing is quite a complex procedure, considering the fact that requires the health expert to analyze multiple factors and retrieve, process, manage and digest large volume of information. According to the literature, the use of information technologies to assist health professionals in decision-making when prescribing drugs, can contribute significantly to the reduction of medication errors. In the context of our work, we explored and evaluated the major smartphone applications for drugs, aiming to the extraction of useful conclusions about the features and functions that they incorporate. One of the research key findings was the absence of a corresponding application for the drugs that are approved by the National Drug Organization of Greece. Therefore, we design and develop an application for checking drug-drug interactions which additionally provides the ability to view national formulary information about drugs. The analysis and design of the application was implemented in collaboration with future users, such as health professionals and patients, in order to ensure that will meet their needs and requirements and at the same time will remain user friendly. This application is intended for Android smart mobile devices (e.g. smartphones, tablet PCs) and the information that integrates is solely based on the national formulary of the National Drug Organization of Greece.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Short Message Service (SMS) is one of the most popularly used services for communication between mobile phone users. In recent times it has also been proposed as a means for information access. However, there are several challenges to be overcome in order to process an SMS, especially when it is used as a query in an information retrieval system.SMS users often tend deliberately to use compacted and grammatically incorrect writing that makes the message difficult to process with conventional information retrieval systems. To overcome this, a pre-processing step known as normalization is required. In this thesis an investigation of SMS normalization algorithms is carried out. To this end,studies have been conducted into the design of algorithms for translating and normalizing SMS text. Character-based, unsupervised and rule-based techniques are presented. An investigation was also undertaken into the design and development of a system for information access via SMS. A specific system was designed to access information related to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) database in healthcare, using a case study. This study secures SMS communication, especially for healthcare information systems. The proposed technique is to encipher the messages using the secure shell (SSH) protocol.

Bakgrund: Diabetes mellitus typ 2 är en kronisk systemsjukdom och en av de stora folksjukdomarna i världen och i Sverige. Diabetes typ 2 karakteriseras av förhöjd glukoshalt i blodet vilket på sikt kan orsaka komplikationer i blodkärlen. Utvecklingen av diabetes typ 2 påverkas av individens levnadsvanor så som ohälsosam kost, rökning och fysisk inaktivitet. Fysisk aktivitet är en central del i diabetesbehandlingen där effekten både förebygger uppkomsten av diabetes typ 2 och förbättrar metabol kontroll. Processen att gå från att vara fysiskt inaktiv till att vara fysisk aktiv är dock svår. Trots att det länge varit välkänt att fysisk aktivitet har både kortsiktiga och långsiktiga positiva effekter, har det varit svårt att motivera personer med diabetes typ 2 att förändra sitt beteende och öka sin fysiska aktivitetsnivå. Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka effekten av motivationshöjande metoder för att öka den fysiska aktivitetsnivån hos vuxna med diabetes typ 2. Metod: I arbetet användes en beskrivande design med allmän litteraturöversikt som datainsamlingsmetod med kvantitativ ansats. Litteraturöversikten är baserad på vetenskapliga kvantitativa originalartiklar publicerade mellan år 2011–2021. Sökningen utfördes med databaserna PubMed och CINAHL. Resultat: Interventioner med olika motivationshöjande metoder ökar fysisk aktivitet hos personer med diabetes typ 2. Både motiverande samtal och mobilhälsa som intervention visade en statistiskt signifikant skillnad på antal steg per dag, antal minuter total fysisk aktivitet samt olika intensitet av fysisk aktivitet. Slutsats: Motiverande samtal och mobilhälsa som intervention visade en god effekt på fysisk aktivitetsnivå. Mer forskning behövs i framtiden som undersöker effekten av andra motivationshöjande metoder, samt olika interventionsperioder / Background: Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease and one of the major public diseases in the world as well as in Sweden. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by elevated levels of glucose in the blood, which leads to complications in the blood vessels. Development of type 2 diabetes is affected by the individual’s lifestyle habits such as unhealthy diet, smoking and physical inactivity. Physical activity is a central part in the treatment of diabetes, where the effect prevents the development of type 2 diabetes and improves metabolic control. The process of changing a habit of being physically inactive to physically active is difficult. Although it has been well known that physical activity has both short- and long-term positive effects, it has been difficult to motivate people with type 2 diabetes to change their behavior and be more physically active. Aim: The aim of the study was to examine the effect of motivation enhancing methods on the physical activity level in adults with type 2 diabetes. Method: A descriptive design with a general literature overview as a data collection method was used with a quantitative approach. The general literature overview is based on scientific quantitative original article’s, published between 2011–2021. The search was performed with PubMed and CINAHL databases. Result: Intervention with different motivation enhancing methods increases physical activity in people with type 2 diabetes. Both motivational interviewing and mobile health interventions showed a statistically significant difference regarding the number of steps per day, total minutes of physical activity and intensity of physical activity. Conclusion: Motivational interview and mobile health interventions elicit a good effect on physical activity. Further research is needed in the future which examines the effectiveness of other motivational enhancing methods as well as different intervention periods.

Health Technology Assessment is an important factor for decision making in the healthcare sector in Sweden. It helps to curtail the rising costs associated with the healthcare sector and aids in the efficient allocation of scarce public health resources. This thesis investigates the cost-effectiveness and the effectiveness in general of two health technologies, addressing the following research objectives: i) assessing the cost-effectiveness of mobile health (mHealth) interventions designed for older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, and ii) assessing the effectiveness of peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment on labor market outcomes in comparison with institutional hemodialysis (IHD) treatment in Swedish settings. Study I and Study II are related to the first research objective. In Study I, we summarized and critically assessed the current evidence on the cost-effectiveness of mHealth interventions focusing on older adults; we found some evidence supporting the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. In Study II, we conducted a within-trial cost-effectiveness analysis of the software application Support, Monitoring and Reminder Technology for Mild Dementia (SMART4MD) from a healthcare perspective for a period of six months. A total of 345 Swedish dyads (MCI patient and informal caregiver) participated in this study. For a short time period of six months, we found that SMART4MD is not cost-effective for MCI patients (statistically insignificant); however, a trend was observed that indicated that it might be cost-effective for informal caregivers, although results remained statistically insignificant (p &gt; 0.05). Study III is related to the second research objective. In Study III, we investigated the effect of PD on labor market outcomes (employment rate, work income, and disability pension) in comparison to IHD. We found that PD is associated with a treatment advantage over IHD in terms of increased employment, work income, and reduced disability pension in the Swedish population after controlling for non-random selection for the treatment.

<p>Hyperspectral imaging is widely used for obtaining optical information of light absorbers (e.g. biochemical composition) in a variety of specimens or tissues in a label-free manner. Acquiring and processing spectral data using hyperspectral imaging usually requires advanced instrumentation such as spectrometers, spectrographs or tunable color filters, which are not easily adaptable in developing instrumentation for field-based applications. Also, use of only RGB information from conventional cameras is not sufficient to obtain a reliable correlation with the actual content of the analyte of interest. We propose a new concept of ‘virtual hyperspectral imaging’ to reconstruct the full reflectance spectra from RGB image data. This allows us to use only RGB image data to determine detailed spatial distributions of analytes of interest. More importantly, it simplifies instrumentation without requiring bulky and expensive hardware. Using a data-driven approach, we apply multivariate regression to reconstruct hyperspectral reflectance image data from RGB images obtained using a conventional camera or a smartphone. </p> <p> </p> <p>In developing a reliable reconstruction matrix, it is critical to obtain a training data set of the specimen of study under the same optical geometry since the spectral reflectance and absorbance is sensitive to the detection and illumination parameters. We designed an image-guided hyperspectral system that can acquire both hyperspectral reflectance and RGB data sets under the same imaging configuration to minimize any discrepancies in the hyperspectral reflectance data acquired using different optical sensing geometries. In our technology development, a telecentric lens that is commonly used in machine vision systems but rarely in bioimaging, serves as a key component for reducing unwanted scattering in biological tissue due to its highly anisotropic scattering properties, by acting as a back-directional gating component to suppress diffuse light. We evaluate our spectrometer-less reflectance imaging method using RGB-based hyperspectral reconstruction algorithm for integration into a smartphone application for non-invasive hemoglobin analysis for anemia risk assessment in communities with limited access to central laboratory tests.</p>