Designing and fabrication of a noninvasive bilirubinmeter

Abstract

Background: Neonatal jaundice is a common disease, and has been seen in almost 60 of term and 80 of preterm infants. There are three methods of assessing bilirubin level, visual, cutaneous and serum measurement. Method of measuring serum bilirubin, due to blood sampling from the baby, is not ideal. Visual assessment method is not an accurate criterion. So, the researchers looked for a way to measure bilirubin level non-invasively. In 1980, the first review was done and high correlation was found between the skin bilirubin level and the amount of bilirubin in serum. Some of noninvasive bilirubinmeter devices poorly acted in heterogeneous groups in terms of gestational age and races. Some of the newer methods, for each infant, need an initial correction. The latest method of measuring skin bilirubin uses the reflection of the wide spectrum of visible light. Methods: We intended the designing and construction of a noninvasive neonatal jaundice meter, using newest methods and designs. In this device, light, with five different wavelengths, transmitted to the skin and after measuring the reflection from baby’s skin, the bilirubin concentration in terms of mg/dl could be obtained. Findings: Clinical testing of the device was done on 32 infants; and correlation of 74, between the transcutaneous (TCB) and the total serum bilirubin (TSB) values was obtained. Conclusion: An acceptable correlation was obtained between the transcutaneous and the total serum bilirubin values. The device can be used to screen newborns for measurement of bilirubin with decreased number of blood samples. © 2015, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.