June 18, 2015

LEDs shine light on jaundice in India

After witnessing babies treated for jaundice under unsafe conditions in a government hospital, US-based engineer Vivek Kopparthi was determined to develop a safer alternative.
Geometric shape

It was the sight of a mass of babies lying naked on a government hospital floor, sweating, dehydrated and being treated for jaundice by a halogen tube hanging from the ceiling by a rope that left an enduring impression on Vivek Kopparthi, an engineer based in the US.

“The way that hospital treated jaundice was perhaps, one of the most unsafe ways of treatments available. I knew I had to work out a useful and alternate treatment,” Vivek told DW.