Automatic phototherapy garment (APG) using blue LED for jaundice treatment - a preliminary design

Phototherapy is a form of treatment for skin conditions, using light sources which are regularly used to treat jaundice. Common light sources used in phototherapy systems include fluorescent lamp, halogen lamp, fibre optic and also light emitting diodes (LED). Currently, blue LEDs are found to be used in phototherapy devices due to its unique characteristics which include high sensitivity towards bilirubin reduction, power efficient, light in weight, less heat production, low in cost and a longer lifetime. Experiments were conducted to compare the efficiency of blue LEDs in reducing bilirubin level in bilirubin solutions, compared to fluorescent light which are commonly used in hospitals. A bilirubin level detector was designed using LabView to measure the bilirubin concentration. Results show that the blue LED were more efficient in reducing bilirubin compared to the fluorescent light (10% - 20% bilirubin degradation) for a time exposure of 30 minutes to 3 hours. In this paper, the design of an automatic phototherapy garment (APV) for infants, using blue LEDs and Arduino microcontroller for use in jaundice treatment is proposed. The proposed garment phototherapy device is portable, uses a small power supply and is easily operated