Konica Minolta started the telemedicine project on fight against neonatal jaundice

2020: Providing portable transkutanny bilirubinometr

Konica Minolta became the partner of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, network of children's hospitals of the University of California in San Francisco. It became known on October 1, 2020. The company will provide to hospitals portable transkutanny bilirubinometra for remote monitoring and treatment of jaundice at newborns.

Children's hospitals of the University of California carry out the program of neonatal telemedicine. It is directed to support of newborns and their mothers after the statement and implemented in response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Within the program transkutanny bilirubinometra of Konica Minolta are issued to parents of newborns with high risk of complications of jaundice. They help to carry out house monitoring within the first week of life of the child. Data retrieveds will be transferred to hospitals for further development of the program.

Konica Minolta will provide to hospitals model of devices – JM-105. As their supplier the Dräger company – the strategic partner of Konica Minolta who specializes in products for detection of jaundice acts.

The device can define presence of jaundice thanks to measurement of relative value of concentration of bilirubin in the child's blood. It is a yellow pigment which is formed at hemoglobin decomposition. Its high concentrations can lead to damages of nervous cells of a brain.

In general jaundice is the phenomenon at which skin of the newborn becomes yellow. It is detected in most of babies and usually disappears within 1-2 weeks. However in certain cases the status can demand early pathological treatment.

We are glad to an opportunity to cooperate with children's hospitals of the University of California and to help with development of solutions for patients of UCSF. Our company looks forward to an opportunity to estimate results of a pilot project and further expansion of partnership, – Kiyotaka Fudzhi, the president of division of health care of Konica Minolta, Inc comments .

Partnership became possible thanks to cooperation of the center of business innovations of Konica Minolta, located in Silicon Valley, with one of experts of UCSF Benioff.

Clinical trials which are carried out by UCSF not only will help to receive valuable comments for development of the telemedicine program, but also will be able to reduce risk of distribution of COVID-19 and other infections. Thanks to the project need of return of parents and newborn children to medical institutions can become minimum, – J.P. Parmli, the vice president of the center of business innovations of Konica Minolta in North America notes.

Konica Minolta released the first noninvasive device for detection of jaundice in 1980. It took measurements without taking of test of blood at the child – only blinking light on a forehead or the newborn's breast.