AJO-Neo: Device to Measure Neonatal Bilirubin Level

 AJO-Neo: Device to Measure Neonatal Bilirubin Level

• Recently, researchers from the S.N. Bose National Centre For Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata have developed a device called “AJO-Neo '' to measure the neonatal bilirubin level.
• SNBNCBS is an autonomous research Institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

Description:

• AJO-Neo is a non-contact and non-invasive spectrometry-based technique for measurement of neonatal bilirubin level without limitations of other available bilirubin meters.
• Bilirubin is a yellowish substance in the blood. It forms after red blood cells break down, and it travels through the liver, gallbladder, and digestive tract before being excreted.
• It is a necessary process in the body's clearance of waste products that arise from the destruction of aged or abnormal red blood cells.

Significance:

• The screening of bilirubin levels in new-borns is necessary to reduce incidents of a type of brain damage called kernicterus that can result from high levels of bilirubin in a baby's blood.
• Kernicterus leads to Neuro-psychiatry problems in neonates.

Advantages:

• It is reliable in measuring bilirubin levels in preterm, and term neonates irrespective of gestational or postnatal age, sex, risk factors, feeding behavior, or skin color.
• The device delivers an instantaneous report (about 10 seconds) to a concerned doctor.
• The conventional “blood test” method takes more than 4 hours to generate the report.