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A new child child with jaundice receiving ultraviolet phototherapy remedy.
Intermountain Well being and Picterus AS are conducting a brand new research aimed toward detecting bilirubin ranges in newborns utilizing smartphone know-how.
The objective of the research is to seek out a reasonable strategy to measure bilirubin ranges in infants with out having to attract blood.
Intermountain Well being exams all newborns for jaundice earlier than leaving the hospital. Jaundice causes yellowing of the pores and skin and eyes as a result of buildup of bilirubin within the blood. The situation is frequent. However in uncommon instances it could possibly trigger mind injury and listening to loss, which is why newborns are screened for this situation.
The research, which makes use of a smartphone app, will likely be carried out on 300 infants at Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden and Intermountain Medical Middle in Murray.
The app and know-how embody a laminated calibration card that’s positioned on the infant's chest. Roughly six pictures are taken, routinely uploaded to a server after which evaluated. The measurements are then despatched again to the telephone.
Full-term infants may have their bilirubin measured with the brand new know-how, in addition to have common blood attracts. About half of infants may have a second measurement two to 5 days after discharge, when jaundice often peaks. One other 100 untimely infants may even be a part of the research utilizing the brand new know-how. Bilirubin is a yellow pigment produced throughout the breakdown of purple blood cells. It then passes via the liver and is excreted from the physique.
“This know-how is fascinating to us as a result of it permits us to measure bilirubin in a child with out drawing blood,” mentioned Dr. Tim Bahr, a neonatologist at Intermountain Well being and lead creator of the research. “Proper now, the one strategy to measure bilirubin ranges in infants is to take them to a lab and draw blood.”
By having this know-how out there on a smartphone, mother and father will finally have the ability to take motion with out having to depart the home with an reasonably priced and simply accessible instrument, Bahr mentioned.
“We all know that oldsters are fairly good at taking photos of their infants,” she mentioned.
Greater than 33,000 infants are born in Intermountain hospitals annually. Three in 5 will check optimistic for jaundice, in accordance with Intermountain Well being.
Tormod Thomsen, CEO of Picterus AS, mentioned he’s excited to see the potential influence the instrument may have on youngster care in the US. The analysis firm, based mostly in Norway, is devoted to revolutionizing neonatal jaundice care worldwide.
“We stay up for continued collaboration and additional improvement,” Thomsen mentioned.
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