Kids born with jaundice have to spend a good deal of time in an illuminated incubator before they can metabolize bilirubin hepatically. Nobody likes this, as the child has to be taken away from the parents to spend time inside a glass box.
At the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), a new illuminated fabric has been developed that can be used to make baby pajamas that literally blanket the child in light. There are technologies that resemble this, such as the Biliblanket, but Empa’s technology integrates optical fibers that are no wider than regular thread, right into traditional clothing fabrics. This makes it easy to put on, feel comfortable like other baby clothing, and natural for the parents to hold their kids during therapy.
Since low power LEDs are used as the light source, small batteries are enough to power the fabric, which means that the pajamas don’t have to be tethered to wall power.
The trick of the technology is to slightly and precisely bend the optical fibers, every so often, so they leak light out of the bends. Without the bends, the fibers transmit most of the light through themselves from one end to the other. Maintaining precisely calculated angles of each optical fiber as it’s woven with the traditional fiber results in a well distributed light pattern.
Study in Biomedical Optics Express: POF-yarn weaves: controlling the light out-coupling of wearable phototherapy devices…
Via: Empa…
