PHOTOTHERAPY MACHINE

 S.C. Nwaneri, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Lagos, Nigeria.

E-mail: snwaneri@unilag.edu.ng

Phototherapy machine is generally used to treat jaundice in newborns. Jaundice is caused by a high level of bilirubin (Hyperbilirubinemia) in the blood that makes the skin look yellowish. This is usually a common problem in newborns[1]. 

In many developing countries, neonatal jaundice remains a significant and challenging problem in newborns. If this condition is not properly treated, it could lead to brain damage. 

To use a phototherapy unit, the light from the unit is used to irradiate the baby making use of  the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum, usually in the range of 420-500 nm. When the light hits the baby's skin, the light oxidizes the bilirubin in the blood leading to the production of compounds that are removed as wastes from the body [2]. The lights are placed at specific distance above the infant usually 30 cm - 40cm.  

Early phototherapy units made use of fluorescent bulbs to generate the needed light. More recently, blue LED lights are used in modern phototherapy machines. These lights are very effective because they can penetrate the skin and break down bilirubin. 

Major manufacturers of phototherapy machine include Siemens, Draeger, SS Technomed, AAMS, Alfamedic, Alma Lasers, Arden Medical and many others. 


Keywords: Bilirubin,  Blue Lights, Hyperbilirubin, Jaundice, and Phototherapy Machine






Fig. 1: Phototherapy Unit




REFERENCES

1. Maisels, M.J. and McDonagh, A.F. (2021) Phototherapy for neonatal jaundice. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358:920-928.

2. DeFrancesco, V. (2004) Perinatology. In Clinical Engineering Handbook. New York: Academic Press.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Radiant Infant Warmer

Image
Solomon C. Nwaneri, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Lagos. Newborns often suffer from a condition known as hypothermia. It is a condition in which the newborn loses a lot of heat and unable to control its temperature. Under normal conditions, the body temperature of the newborn should not be lower than 36.5 degrees centigrade. But when hypothermia occurs, the body temperature becomes lower.  Hypothermia affects preterm newborns, those with low birth weight. as well as those undergoing some procedures. Such newborns need a device  to keep them warm and prevent heat loss by radiation.  This is the main purpose of a radiant warmer. How does a radiant warmer keep a newborn warm you may ask? This is possible because the radiant warmer consists of an overhead heating element that produces the required heat to keep the baby warm and there is a heating probe as well. The baby is placed on a tray directly under the heating element at a given distance. You may also ask
Read more

APPROPRIATE HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES

Solomon C. Nwaneri, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail: snwaneri@unilag.edu.ng Health technologies are generally manufactured in the highly industrialized countries of the world. Most often, these technologies are often designed with existing realities in developed countries without due consideration to the peculiar realities of developed countries. Many developing countries are generally poor and lack the resources to provide basic and advanced health technologies in most of their hospitals. Most often, they rely on donations of obsolete and fairly used medical devices from developed countries. These medical devices may not be very suitable and workable in these resource poor countries. Most often these equipment easily fail and become unusable after a short while. Hence health technologies need to be appropriate, suitable and relevant to the local environment.  Appropriate Technologies as defined by th
Read more

OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR

Image
 An oxygen concentrator is a very important medical device used in hospitals especially in  intensive care units(ICUs) for supplying oxygen to  those  in need of oxygen. When the oxygen level of a patient has dropped considerably, an oxygen concentrator is required. Some of the common diseases that lead to a reduction in oxygen levels in patients include apnea, asthma and other respiratory illnesses.  Oxygen concentrators are often necessary in neonatal hospital wards as sick newborns especially preterm infants often need supplemental oxygen especially if they are suffering from health conditions like apnea of prematurity. Usually, pulse oximeters are often used to monitor their oxygen levels before delivering oxygen to the patient using oxygen concentrators. A typical oxygen concentrator can supply oxygen to one or more patients at the same time. It supplies oxygen to a patient either by intermittent pulse flow or through continuous flow. In newborns, the recommended amount of oxyge
Read more