Development and Application of a Point-of-Care Assay for Plasma Bilirubin

Devastating brain injury and neonatal death caused by hyperbilirubinemia (kernicterus) is very common in low resource settings (LRS) but can be prevented by early detection and treatment with light therapy. A major roadblock to the global effort to eliminate kernicterus is the inability to measure total plasma bilirubin (TB) in most LRS, including many referral hospital centers. To meet this need, we are developing an inexpensive Point-of-Care system that rapidly measures TB.