BiliOnesie: A Phototherapy Garment for Treating Neonatal Jaundice

Neonatal jaundice is the most common medical condition in newborns, affecting more than 80% of infants. The common forms of phototherapy treatment for jaundice are uncomfortable for the infant and caregiver, disrupt important newborn support practices like holding the baby and early breastfeeding, and lose efficiency in shadowed body areas. Here, we present a phototherapy device in the form of a soft, stretchy, close-fitting full-body garment (a “onesie”). Our device uses surface-mount stitched e-textile fabrication methods to preserve the softness of the e-textile structure for next-to-skin applications. The prototype successfully produces 450-460 nm blue light at approximately 30 µW/cm² intensity at the garment surface, the recommended irradiance dose, and by nature of its close, conformable fit, it reaches more of the skin surface than traditional methods.