Smartphone cameras may soon screen for jaundice in newborns—if Intermountain Health deems it accurate

MURRAY, UTAH (ABC4) — A smartphone app may soon begin screening for jaundice in newborns, replacing blood tests as the current method of spotting the condition.

Intermountain Health and Picterus AS, a Norwegian health technology company, are looking into a way to make testing for jaundice in newborns easier. They’re teaming up to study a new application that can detect the condition with a simple method — a smartphone camera.

Jaundice is not uncommon in newborns, but if left untreated, can cause brain damage or hearing loss. The condition can look like yellowing of the skin, which comes from increased levels of bilirubin, a yellow substance formed during the body’s normal process of breaking down old red blood cells.

In a statement, Intermountain Health said they test every baby born in their facilities for jaundice, which is about 33,000 each year. These tests are typically done with blood draws, which Intermountain Health officials say could require repeat draws while in the hospital and even after some babies are sent home.

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The hope is that the app would provide an inexpensive and painless way for measurements to be taken at the hospital and pave the way for families to test for jaundice at home.

When using the app, a laminated calibration card is placed on the baby’s chest. Then, about six pictures are taken of the card and baby, loaded onto a server, evaluated, and then sent back to the phone with measurements. Intermountain said they will be conducting a study to test the app’s accuracy.

“This technology is exciting to us because it makes it possible to measure the bilirubin in a baby without taking blood. Right now, the only way to measure bilirubin levels in babies is to take them to a laboratory and draw blood,” said Tim Bahr, MD, an Intermountain Health neonatologist, who is leading the study. “By having this technology available on a smartphone, we will eventually empower parents to make these measurements without having to leave their homes with an easily accessible and affordable tool.”

The study will test bilirubin in babies using both the new technology and blood draws. Intermountain will study the app on about 300 term babies at Intermountain Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Intermountain McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden and the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray.

Intermountain Health says that about 150 of these babies will have a second measurement within two to five days after discharge when jaundice typically peaks. One hundred babies born pre-term will also be measured with the new technology.

“Bilirubin and jaundice management have long been based in the hospital and the clinic,” said Dr. Bahr. “Taking a newborn to the clinic or laboratory for frequent blood tests in the first days of life can be a huge inconvenience and burden on families. We hope to simplify this care and move more of it into the home. This is a win for families and for our healthcare system.”

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