Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep 16;6(9):e04950.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04950. eCollection 2020 Sep.

An evaluation of phototherapy device performance in a tertiary health facility

Mahendra T A Sampurna  1 , Risa Etika  1 , Martono T Utomo  1 , Siti A D Rani  1 , Abyan Irzaldy  1 , Zahra S Irawan  1 , Kinanti Ayu Ratnasari  1 , Arend F Bos  2
Affiliations

An evaluation of phototherapy device performance in a tertiary health facility

Mahendra T A Sampurna et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Introduction: A range of phototherapy devices are commercially available. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2004) recommends routine intensity measurement of phototherapy devices to ensure that babies affected by hyperbilirubinemia receive effective phototherapy.

Objective: The aims of this study were to calculate the irradiance decay velocity of phototherapy devices used in a tertiary care hospital to evaluate whether current maintenance procedures for phototherapy devices are effective, and to contribute to the improvement of a standardized maintenance procedure in daily practice, thus helping to ensure that all babies affected by hyperbilirubinemia receive prompt treatment.

Methods: This research represents a prospective observational study conducted at Dr. Soetomo Academic Teaching Hospital in Surabaya, Indonesia from February 2019-July 2019. The intensities of 11 phototherapy devices were measured at specific times using a Bili Blanket Meter II. We calculated the Δ irradiance differences in μW/cm2/nm and calculated them as velocity μW/cm2/nm/hour of use.

Results: Among the 11 phototherapy devices included in this study, nine were fluorescent and two were light-emitting diode (LED) machines. The mean (standard deviation) irradiance decay velocity of the fluorescent lamps was 0.02 (±0.03) μW/cm2/nm/hour of use, while that of the LED lamps was 0.015 (±0.007) μW/cm2/nm/hour of use. The fastest irradiance decay velocity was 0.08 μW/cm2/nm/hour of use, while the slowest irradiance decay velocity was <0.01 μW/cm2/nm/hour of use, both of which were from fluorescent-based devices. There was one fluorescent-based device that provided an intensity lower than the therapeutic level.

Conclusion: Irradiance decay occurred in all phototherapy device lamps. It is important to perform routinely intensity measurements, regardless of manufacturer recommendations, to avoid ineffective phototherapy resulting from intensities lower than the required therapeutic levels.

Keywords: Biomedical engineering; Hyperbilirubinemia; Intensity; Irradiance; Pediatrics; Phototherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Silhouette model illustration. Used with the permission of Van Imhoff et al. (2013) [5].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Burke B.L., Robbins J.M., Mac Bird T., Hobbs C.A., Nesmith C., Tilford J.M. Trends in hospitalizations for neonatal jaundice and kernicterus in the United States, 1988-2005. Pediatrics. 2009;123:524–532. - PubMed
    1. Maisels M.J., McDonagh A.F. Phototherapy for neonatal jaundice. N. Engl. J. Med. 2008;358:920–928. - PubMed
    1. American Academy of Pediatrics Management of hyperbilirubinemia in the newborn infant 35 or more weeks. Pediatrics. 2004;114:297–316. - PubMed
    1. Bhutani V.K., Papile L.A., Baley J.E., Carlo W.A., Cummings J.J., Kumar P., Polin R.A., Tan R.C., Watterberg K.L. Phototherapy to prevent severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia in the newborn infant 35 or more weeks of gestation. Pediatrics. 2011;128:e1046–e1052. - PMC - PubMed
    1. van Imhoff D.E., Hulzebos C.V., van der Heide M., van den Belt V.W., Vreman H.J., Dijk P.H., BARTrial Study Group High variability and low irradiance of phototherapy devices in Dutch NICUs. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2013;98:F112–F116. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources