India, September 2022: GenWorks, India’s leading digital medical and healthcare solution provider, has launched Billicare, a non-invasive (there are no needles or pins to draw blood) technology that measures bilirubin levels by placing a clip on the baby’s ears.
Newborn jaundice is a medical condition that can lead to brain damage if not identified and treated immediately. The condition is so common in India that doctors declare a ‘yellow alert’ (as the skin of babies with jaundice turns yellow) as soon as a baby is born to ensure regular monitoring for the first two weeks.
Babies suspected of jaundice are measured using Billicare and then placed under a blue light for a specific period of time as a part of the treatment. The procedure is known as phototherapy. The best thing about Billicare is that it gives the most accurate results after a phototherapy session on whether there is any change in the texture of a baby’s skin. The accuracy of Billicare is much higher than any other competitive brand.
A study published in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine to find out the accuracy of Billicare showed “good performance with positive bias for the screening of jaundice in healthy late preterm or term infants.”
Dr Prashanth Gowda, neonatologist and paediatrician, Motherhood Hospital, Bengaluru, said, “Nearly 30 to 50 per cent of the babies develop jaundice within 10 days of being born. Blood samples of suspected babies are collected and sent to labs to assess bilirubin levels before starting treatment. (Bilirubin is the yellow substance the body creates when red blood cells break down.) Jaundice occurs when bilirubin buildup occurs in a baby’s blood, but the testing process takes time, and jaundice can’t wait. Jaundice will increase every hour if left untreated (aggravating the health risk for a baby).
He added, “But Billicare gives a report in less than 30 seconds. The entire procedure is over in just three steps: switching on the machine, feeding the patient data and placing it on the baby’s earlobe. With Billicare, we have moved from bullock carts to fighter planes.”
Mr Ganesh Prasad, Founder, MD & CEO GenWorks Health, said, “Care for newborns and women is core to GenWorks’ philosophy. While the last decade has brought great focus on the adoption of technology to save lives in newborn care, the leverage of screening technology to optimize treatment was always in doubt due to a lack of reliable and accurate technology. GenWorks identified Billicare and its vast network and relationships with neonatologists and caregivers could impress its differentiated value of Billicare.”
He added, “GenWorks has made a pioneering effort to put together best-in-class technology for newborn care. Our care for newborns has impacted outcomes for more than a million lives, all the way from saving lives to providing the quality of life that every newborn deserves. Our portfolio in newborn care is complete from early screening, early diagnosis, focused treatment and development care. Our connected care platform provided specialist access anywhere in the country.”