Singapore General Hospital develops app for neonatal jaundice screening

The app analyses skin colour to predict bilirubin levels in multi-ethnic Asian newborns.

Singapore General Hospital, in collaboration with SingHealth Polyclinics and national HealthTech agency Synapxe, has developed a smartphone app to enable parents to screen their infants for neonatal jaundice at home.

The app, BiliSG©, uses machine learning to predict bilirubin levels in multi-ethnic Asian newborns through skin colour analysis.

Parents can capture images of their baby's forehead, chest, and abdomen using a smartphone camera, along with a specially designed colour-calibration sticker.

Meanwhile, the team plans to conduct further validation of the app across a wider range of smartphone operating systems and camera specifications, followed by a pilot study to assess its clinical feasibility.

Neonatal jaundice affects 60% of term and 80% of pre-term infants, with some ethnic groups experiencing higher incidence rates.

The app aims to address the challenges of frequent clinic visits required for screening during the first two to three weeks of an infant's life, which could expose vulnerable babies to airborne diseases.