Developing a Neonatal Bilirubin Meter in the Country of Use

Abstract

There is often a disconnect between engineers and end-users for point-of-care devices. We sought to mitigate this barrier by prototyping a neonatal bilirubin meter in Hanoi, Vietnam with the needs expressed by the local hospitals during interviews. The prototype cassette filters 18 uL of whole blood in 4 minutes and the optical reader has a 0.83 resolution for a range of 0 – 30 mg/mL of bilirubin standard liquid. Developing a point-of-care device near the end user and in a non-laboratory setting produced a device that is consistent in varied environmental conditions and was low-cost to develop.