In order to design Firefly phototherapy, Design that Matters used human-centered design to collect feedback about the Bilibed phototherapy prototype developed by partners East Meets West Foundation...
Pop the Champagne! Firefly Has Treated Over 1,000 Newborns!
We are excited to announce that Firefly has treated over 1,000 newborns in Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia! While 1,000 newborns treated is an amazing milestone, we are even more excited that the 72 devices currently distributed will treat over 35,000 newborns during their lifetime.
Firefly’s unique double sided design allows it to reduce treatment times by almost 50%, but more importantly, allows for effective treatment of severe jaundice allowing infants around the world to avoid dangerous exchange transfusions, which require all of the blood in the newborn to be replaced. We have already seen Firefly’s impact as it has entered areas rife with severe jaundice, like Myanmar. We can't wait to tell the story of the next 1,000 or 10,000 babies treated as we plow ahead in helping to address jaundice worldwide.
Design that Matters would like to express our sincere thanks to our Firefly project partners the East Meets West Foundation and Vietnamese manufacturer Medical Technology Transfer and Services. Their partnership made Firefly possible.
Additional thanks to Firefly’s lead donors: The Lemelson Foundation, The van Otterloo Family, Bohemian Foundation, an anonymous donor, ANT Italy - Friends of Trento Neonatology, The Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy, and Martin and Debbie Hale.
Firefly Arrives in Myanmar!
In recent news, East Meets West Foundation (EMW) delivered 40 Firefly devices to 22 hospitals across Myanmar! This is extremely exciting as the country was only recently opened up for international aid agencies in 2011, ending the isolation that has prevented outside intervention, most recently leading the UN to note the unprecedented lack of international access available after Cyclone Nargis killed over 130,000 people in 2008.
In East Meets West partner hospitals in Myanmar, health care staff are giving 1000 exchange blood transfusions a year. EBT is the jaundice treatment of last resort, requiring total replacement of a newborn’s blood supply. If the rates at EMW partners hospitals are similar at other hospitals in Myanmar, this would mean 5000 EBTs a year countrywide. Luciano Moccia, International Coordinator of Breath of Life for EMW commented, “severe jaundice is by far the biggest problem in Myanmar.”
This is an astronomical number when compared to the number of such procedures done in first world settings. Dr. Steven Ringer, Chief of Newborn Medicine at Brigham and Women’s, mentioned he had seen only one blood exchange transfusion for newborn jaundice performed in the U.S. during his 30+ year career. We hope Firefly’s introduction into Myanmar eliminates the severe jaundice that plagues the country.
- Will Harris, IDSA
DtM Designer
Design that Matters would like to express our sincere thanks to our Firefly project partners the East Meets West Foundation and Vietnamese manufacturer Medical Technology Transfer and Services. Their partnership made Firefly possible.
Additional thanks to Firefly’s lead donors: The Lemelson Foundation, The van Otterloo Family, Bohemian Foundation, an anonymous donor, ANT Italy - Friends of Trento Neonatology, The Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy, and Martin and Debbie Hale.