Newborns with jaundice must lie alone, naked, and with their eyes covered in incubators under blue light. Empa’s light pajamas revolutionize this treatment because the pajamas emit the light directly onto the baby’s skin. That means the baby can get healthy while warm, snug, and without a blindfold in its mother’s arms. Image: Zoomstudio
Babies who suffer from jaundice after birth are treated with shortwave light. Empa researchers have now developed illuminated pajamas that replace the treatment in an incubator. This means newborns can get healthy while warm and happy in their mothers' arms. Alone, naked, and with their eyes covered for protection: this is how newborns lie in incubators when they are being treated for jaundice. Irradiation with blue light in an incubator is necessary because toxic decomposition products of the blood pigment hemoglobin are deposited in the skin in newborns with jaundice. Researchers of the Empa division Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles have now significantly improved the not-so-child-friendly procedure by combining the treatment with the needs of the newborns: The team, led by Luciano Boesel, developed illuminated pajamas for babies that turn the treatment into a wellness experience. To do this, the material researchers created textiles with optically conductive fibers woven into them.
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