FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Medical equipment data
Health topic Child mortality
Health classification Treatment
FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Project data
Location California, United States
Status Clinical trial
Instance of Jaundice treatment
OKH Manifest Download

Problem being addressed[edit | edit source]

Twelve percent of newborns need to receive immediate treatment for severe jaundice. This problem can be solved through the use of phototherapy treatment, but in low-income settings existing phototherapy options are often ineffective, costly, difficult to maintain, and improperly used.

Detailed description of the solution[edit | edit source]

Comet is a low-cost, high-performance, and compact jaundice treatment device intended to be used in rural clinics or as a backup for urban hospitals. This device is a cheaper, smaller and more energy-efficient device than Brilliance, another phototherapy device developed by the same design team. Comet utilizes high intensity light-emitting diodes (LEDs) which provide the intense blue light to treat jaundice. Comet has a lifespan of 3-5 years, requires minimal maintenance, and is designed to retail at less than $150.

Designed by[edit | edit source]

  • Designed by:Design Revolution: Design for the Other Ninety Percent
  • Manufacturer (if different):
  • Manufacturer location: Palo Alto, CA, USA

When and where it was tested/implemented[edit | edit source]

India and Nepal

Funding Source[edit | edit source]

Finalist in Saving Lives at Birth Competition One Heart World-Wide

References[edit | edit source]

Peer-reviewed publication[edit | edit source]

Other internally generated reports[edit | edit source]

Hong, M. (2013, October 07). [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20140210002449/http://blog.d-rev.org:80/

Externally generated reports[edit | edit source]

Cheaper, greener blue light: A better phototherapy device for jaundice treatment. Retrieved from https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/2011/02/01/cheaper_greener_blue_light_a_better_phototherapy_device_for_jaundice_treatment.html

Comet: Effective, compact, and low-cost phototherapy to treat newborn jaundice. (August 8, 2012). Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20160507210939/https://savinglivesatbirth.net/summaries/163

IP and copyright[edit | edit source]

Approval by regulatory bodies or standards boards[edit | edit source]

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Part of Global Health Medical Device Compendium
SDG SDG03 Good health and well-being, SDG09 Industry innovation and infrastructure
Authors Caroline Soyars
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 2 pages link here
Impact 368 page views
Created November 4, 2013 by Caroline Soyars
Modified November 22, 2022 by Irene Delgado
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