Globally, it's estimated that extreme neonatal jaundice affected 481,000 late-preterm and term newborns in the year 2010. Failure to detect and manage it resulted in 114,100 avoidable neonatal deaths and 63,000 infants with severe disabilities. The global burden was extremely higher for the poorest countries and 75% of mortality occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, attributing this outcome to lack of preventive services and effective treatment.

phototherapy is a noninvasive therapy used for treating neonatal jaundice. we are proposing to develop phototherapy that incorporates a color sensor to monitor the treatment progress by measuring the intensity of skin yellowish coloration caused by the bilirubin amount found under the skin. the treatment is performed by pediatricians or nurses.

In our experience, provincial hospitals often lack the necessary reagents to carry out blood analysis-based tests, necessitating an alternate measurement. Developing a tool that will determine the intensity of yellowish color in infants can give immediate and accurate detection of bilirubin amount in a non-invasive way. Effective phototherapy should also include important criteria like the spectral range of light used, level of irradiance, and efficient surface area of the baby’s skin. Also, commercial phototherapy systems and bilirubin meters are expensive and rural hospitals might not have the financial resources to afford these.