Validation of a Low-Cost, Point-of-Care Bilirubin Measurement to Diagnose Neonatal Jaundice and Monitor Phototherapy in Hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa
A team of researchers at Rice University in partnership with clinicians at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital created BiliSpec, a low-cost battery-powered reader designed to immediately quantify serum bilirubin levels from a small drop of whole blood applied to a lateral flow strip. The simple and affordable BiliSpec system offers a faster and more cost-effective means to detect neonatal jaundice in under-resourced clinics and determine when phototherapy is needed. The goal of this study is to validate the accuracy of the BiliSpec device in measuring bilirubin levels in neonates relative to the laboratory spectrophotometric bilirubinometer and transcutaneous bilirubinometer measurements.
• The patient is currently being treated at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital or Kamuzu Central Hospital in the neonatal ward.
• The patient is less than 28 days old (neonate).
• The patient is deemed to be at risk for jaundice or the patient is undergoing blue light phototherapy for treatment of jaundice.
• The patient's parent or guardian has provided informed consent for their child to participate.