Home Phototherapy

Jaundice is the most common disease among newborns and is treated with phototherapy, a process that involves a medical instrument that shines fluorescent light on the skin. Currently, almost all available phototherapy systems are complicated, expensive, and large enough to occupy the same space as a medium-sized bed.

The size of the systems makes transportation of them very difficult, explained Iranian industrial designer, Ehsan Dargazy. As a consequence the newborns have to stay at hospitals for treatment, sometimes far from their mothers, who can be anxious and upset by having their children removed from them and placed in the complicated phototherapy instruments.

The Home Phototherapy system makes it possible for families to treat their infants at home. It offers a new and simpler design that is small, foldable, portable, and easy to use.

“I designed my phototherapy like a sunshade,” said Dargazy. “It’s simple form allows newborns to be placed directly alongside the mothers’ bed, either at the hospital or at home without having to remove them.”

After use, the legs of the system fold away to occupy less space and make storage and transportation much easier. The symmetrical design of the legs also reduces production costs.

“Those benefitting from my design are producers who can make the device cheaply and more easily than older models; hospitals that want to avoid problems with space shortages; and of course, mothers who can rent the device from hospitals to treat their newborns calmly at home.”