Usefulness of the Transcutaneous Bilirubinometer in Neonatal Jaundice

An, Joo Ran; Park, Sung Won; Lee, Hee Chul; Kim, Kyung Ah; Ko, Sun Young; Lee, Yeon Kyung; Shin, Son Moon

Abstract

PURPOSE
To test the usefulness of a new jaundice meter, the JM-103(Minolta/Hill-Rom Air-shields, Japan) which uses a new probe to compensate for different skin pigmentation or thickness, and displayed actual bilirubin level instead of an index number as in the previous model, the JM-102, we compared transcutaneous bilirubin(TCB) with plasma bilirubin(PB) in newborn infants.
METHODS
TCB was measured on 114 newborn infants aged 3 to 6 days with jaundice meter JM- 103, using one to five flashes. TCB was measured on the forehead(glabella; TCB-F) and on the chest(sternum; TCB-C) of the same infant at the same time. PB was measured by American Optical bilirubinometer within 30 minutes after TCB measurement. TCB was compared with PB, and the difference of TCB according to the using preset numbers of flashing times was studied.
RESULTS
There was significant correlation between PB and TCB, regardless of the measuring site and the numbers of flashing during measurement.
CONCLUSION
The New transcutaneous bilirubinometer, the JM-103 would be a useful screening device in neonatal jaundice.