A new solar-powered device for the treatment of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in hardest-to-reach places tested in Nigeria
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background Information: The treatment of hyper bilirubinaemia in faraway remote locations of the world, where grid electricity and specialist doctors are unavailable, is hampered by a lack of appropriate technologies that could be operable by basic-trained healthcare workers. Hence the urgent need for the development of simplified low-cost medical devices that could be deployable to the hardest-to-reach remote locations of the world.
Methods: Low-cost stable elements, components, and workpieces were targeted and applied in design to develop an applicable intensive phototherapy machine. Materials were sourced from in-country local markets to prototype the resultant device for capacity tests, and technical and safety assessments. The device was crafted to be solely solar energy dependent for power sustainability and climate-change mitigation in remote locations prior to ethical-approval and commencement of clinical trialling at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital Nigeria, to determine its efficiency in rapid breakdown of ‘severe’ serum bilirubin to a ‘mild’ benchmark level.
Result: The new device passed all technical safety assessments, delivering a total body irradiation treatment capacity of 45—158 µW/cm2/nm with 460 nm light wavelengths across various aspects of the body of a neonate. The device utilises real-time solar-power whilst self-banking its private reserve energy, which could last for over 27 hours when no-real-time energy from the sun is available. All initial eleven patients enrolled during the first 3-months of trialling were safely and successfully treated within 17.8 ± 8.7 irradiation-hours with stable vital-signs and no injuries.
Conclusion: The new device is a potentially sustainable LMIC-solution for severe jaundice management.
Methods: Low-cost stable elements, components, and workpieces were targeted and applied in design to develop an applicable intensive phototherapy machine. Materials were sourced from in-country local markets to prototype the resultant device for capacity tests, and technical and safety assessments. The device was crafted to be solely solar energy dependent for power sustainability and climate-change mitigation in remote locations prior to ethical-approval and commencement of clinical trialling at University of Calabar Teaching Hospital Nigeria, to determine its efficiency in rapid breakdown of ‘severe’ serum bilirubin to a ‘mild’ benchmark level.
Result: The new device passed all technical safety assessments, delivering a total body irradiation treatment capacity of 45—158 µW/cm2/nm with 460 nm light wavelengths across various aspects of the body of a neonate. The device utilises real-time solar-power whilst self-banking its private reserve energy, which could last for over 27 hours when no-real-time energy from the sun is available. All initial eleven patients enrolled during the first 3-months of trialling were safely and successfully treated within 17.8 ± 8.7 irradiation-hours with stable vital-signs and no injuries.
Conclusion: The new device is a potentially sustainable LMIC-solution for severe jaundice management.
Date Issued
2025-04-24
Date Acceptance
2025-03-10
Citation
BMJ Innovations, 2025, 11 (1), pp.56-63
ISSN
2055-8074
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Start Page
56
End Page
63
Journal / Book Title
BMJ Innovations
Volume
11
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2025. Published by BMJ Group. This is the author’s accepted manuscript made available under a CC-BY licence in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy)
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-03-26