What Is Infant Jaundice?
Mild jaundice is a condition shared by most newborn infants where an excess of bilirubin--a yellowish byproduct of the body's destruction of old red blood cells--results in a yellowish tint to the skin and the whites of the eyes. These symptoms typically appear within the first 5 days of life and disappear naturally within a week or two; however, about 10% of all newborns worldwide are unable to process bilirubin quickly enough and require jaundice treatment to prevent death or lifelong disability. This amounts to about 13 million infants per year.
The most common treatment for serious cases of newborn jaundice is phototherapy (PT) where an infant's skin is exposed to blue light until the jaundice abates. As the light is absorbed through the infant's skin it helps to break down the bilirubin making it easier for the infant's organs to absorb and process it.
While PT is a straightforward treatment, many infants in developing countries do not have access to it due to traditional machines' limited affordability and form factor appropriateness for these environments. Every year over 6 million infants needing PT treatment do not receive it. Of course this gap in device fit between developed and developing countries is typical: One Duke study found that 98% of medical equipment sent to developing countries is broken within 5 years.
Firefly & Brilliance: Better Phototherapy For The World
To address this gap, at least two innovation design firms--D-Rev and Design That Matters (DtM)--have developed PT machines that are designed for success in emerging markets. The machines use more effective, efficient light sources, distribution and manufacturing partners local to the target
markets, they can cost as little as one-sixth the price of standard PT machines at retail plus they save over $250 per year in bulb replacement costs by switching from Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) to special blue LED lights. At right is a photo of D-Rev's Brilliance.
Brilliance and Firefly are making an impact. For example, the East Meets West Foundation installed over 40 Firefly devices across Myanmar in 2014, where before Firefly there were over 100 exchange blood transfusions taking place every week across the nation due to lack of phototherapy and long travel distances to hospitals.
Could D-Rev's and DtM's PT devices succeed in the U.S.?
With their fresh design approach, D-Rev and DtM have ended up creating devices poised to succeed in Western markets as well as developing markets. Brilliance has the CE Mark and Firefly shortly will. The Firefly device has 2-sided lighting that can cut the time required for therapy from 3 days to only 24 hours. Both devices are very easy to use and clean.
Standard PT devices in the U.S. cost about $3,000 each at retail. At comparable levels of performance, devices like Brilliance and Firefly might sell for under $1,000 at retail. The current blue light LEDs in use across most devices are estimated to last up to 120,000 hours, so replacement costs for these are negligible amortized over the device lifetime.
One potential challenge in the U.S. is that newborns with no other health issues than jaundice are increasingly cared for at home using devices like PT blankets such as those offered by Biliblanket Rentals for $95 per day. However, plenty of providers treat jaundiced infants in NICUs and a U.S. market for Brilliance and Firefly may lie with providers who would welcome the opportunity to provide PT in a more cost-effective, efficient way.
Question For Discussion:
Mild jaundice is a condition shared by most newborn infants where an excess of bilirubin--a yellowish byproduct of the body's destruction of old red blood cells--results in a yellowish tint to the skin and the whites of the eyes. These symptoms typically appear within the first 5 days of life and disappear naturally within a week or two; however, about 10% of all newborns worldwide are unable to process bilirubin quickly enough and require jaundice treatment to prevent death or lifelong disability. This amounts to about 13 million infants per year.
The most common treatment for serious cases of newborn jaundice is phototherapy (PT) where an infant's skin is exposed to blue light until the jaundice abates. As the light is absorbed through the infant's skin it helps to break down the bilirubin making it easier for the infant's organs to absorb and process it.
While PT is a straightforward treatment, many infants in developing countries do not have access to it due to traditional machines' limited affordability and form factor appropriateness for these environments. Every year over 6 million infants needing PT treatment do not receive it. Of course this gap in device fit between developed and developing countries is typical: One Duke study found that 98% of medical equipment sent to developing countries is broken within 5 years.
Firefly & Brilliance: Better Phototherapy For The World
To address this gap, at least two innovation design firms--D-Rev and Design That Matters (DtM)--have developed PT machines that are designed for success in emerging markets. The machines use more effective, efficient light sources, distribution and manufacturing partners local to the target
Brilliance and Firefly are making an impact. For example, the East Meets West Foundation installed over 40 Firefly devices across Myanmar in 2014, where before Firefly there were over 100 exchange blood transfusions taking place every week across the nation due to lack of phototherapy and long travel distances to hospitals.
Both companies have partnered with other organizations to achieve significant inroads across primarily southeast Asia and Africa. To-date, over 1,000 installed Brilliance devices have treated almost 70,000 babies. Brilliance devices are currently installed in 13 countries. They are located in South Asia, East Africa and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, India, Malawi, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda). Phoenix Medical Systems, D-Rev’s India-based partner, continues to expand into new markets. As of April 2015, DtM partners East Meets West Foundation and Vietnamese manufacturing partner MTTS have installed Firefly in fourteen developing countries across Asia (Cambodia, East Timor, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam), Sub-Saharan Africa (Burundi, Ghana, Nigeria), and the Caribbean (Haiti). These devices have already treated over 12,000 newborns and will treat at least 88,000 over their lifetime. Each company has plans to expand significantly.
Could D-Rev's and DtM's PT devices succeed in the U.S.?
Standard PT devices in the U.S. cost about $3,000 each at retail. At comparable levels of performance, devices like Brilliance and Firefly might sell for under $1,000 at retail. The current blue light LEDs in use across most devices are estimated to last up to 120,000 hours, so replacement costs for these are negligible amortized over the device lifetime.
One potential challenge in the U.S. is that newborns with no other health issues than jaundice are increasingly cared for at home using devices like PT blankets such as those offered by Biliblanket Rentals for $95 per day. However, plenty of providers treat jaundiced infants in NICUs and a U.S. market for Brilliance and Firefly may lie with providers who would welcome the opportunity to provide PT in a more cost-effective, efficient way.
- Could Brilliance and Firefly disrupt phototherapy devices in the U.S.?
