New innovation to treat newborn jaundice

In phototherapy systems, infants with newborn jaundice are exposed to a light that enables the bilirubin levels to come under control, says Kanav Kahol, the CEO of Pink Tech Design.
Kanav Kahol’s cost-effective alternative to the current phototherapy systems
Kanav Kahol’s cost-effective alternative to the current phototherapy systems

On June 9, a baby boy was born to Sumit and Kashvi Saxena of Kirti Nagar. Born healthy with blood group A+, the infant started showing symptoms of jaundice after being discharged from the hospital.

Sumit says, “His bilirubin count was too high at 14.1 mg/dL against the normal 5.2mg/dL. We took him to the hospital, but were told not to admit him due to the COVID risk. In a normal situation, the doctors would have suggested two days of phototherapy treatment that is administered at Newborn Intensive Care Units. So, we discussed the matter with Kashvi’s brother Kanav Kahol, a tech innovator.”

Kahol, the CEO of Pink Tech Design, who has created several products for international firms and laboratories with his team of engineers and designers, consulted a paediatrician, gathered all the material from the market, and within an hour, innovated a homemade remedy.

“In phototherapy systems, infants with newborn jaundice are exposed to a light that enables the bilirubin levels to come under control.

"I found out that the phototherapy systems used 450nm LED lights that aquariums also use to provide a bacteria-free environment for the fish,” says the computer scientist and Ted Talk speaker, was ex-faculty at the Arizona State University with prior experience at Mayo Clinic.

So, Kahol went to Daryaganj, and bought six such lights plus a light meter to check the luminance levels of the light.

“I went through research papers that said there needs to be an eye cover to protect the child’s retina. We made an outer cave-like structure of cardboard with dimensions similar to a phototherapy unit, and built it in less than Rs 2,000. You can also add a baby warmer and digitise the system to allow remote monitoring and therapy system,” he adds.

The infant was kept in it for two days and the bilirubin count came down to normal – 3.4mg/dL.
Kahol wants to make his innovation accessible to all, especially rural India.

“A device like this can cost Rs 1,00,000, and the treatment might cost an individual Rs10,000 to 25,000 per day. But in this system, we can even monitor the progress with the help of IT software for free,” adds Kahol, who intends to work with ICMR to release this device in open source.

Kahol’s firm has five patents and their latest innovation is the Digital Sanitisation Assurance System that received funding from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council. This AI and Internet of Things based tool assures sanitisation as per WHO recommendations.

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