Firefly Phototherapy Device

Component Overview
Firefly consists of a removable bassinet made from clear scratch-resistant plastic, a fixed top light, a bottom light, and a control panel for displaying power switch, light intensity, treatment hours, and total device hours.
Key Features: No moving parts; enclosure designed toward NEMA Type 5
Dimensions (LxWxH): Overall (66 cm x 38 cm x 49.5 cm ), Top Light ( 51.6 cm x 12.5 cm x 6.3 cm), Bottom Light (64.7 cm x 38 cm x 10 cm)
Total unit mass: 11.8 kgs

Operational Overview: 2-sided light design offers top and bottom phototherapy reducing total treatment time; the portable and compact nature of Firefly allows it to be used in mother’s recovery room so she can continue breastfeeding while infant receives phototherapy; single power button with single light intensity setting and fixed light distance is intended to keep the Firefly simple and to minimize the risk of using it incorrectly.

Medical staff must be trained in proper use. MTTS provides user training through a network of consultants located in the different countries

The Firefly has been designed for 5 years of 24/7 hour operation. Its LED lights are rated to last up to 44,000 hours before requiring replacement. In addition, Firefly has no moving parts, outer casings have tight seams and no holes in order to prevent most insects, dust and liquids from entering and damaging the device or dimming the lights.

MTTS offers a 1 year warranty  for all of the products it manufactures

Firefly data from 17 infant treatments with average initial TSB 305 μMol/L (17.8 mg/dL) yielded median serum bilirubin reduction rate of -6.7 μMol/L/hr (-0.39 mg/dL/hr). Multiple linear regression of Firefly data based on study of 66 infants in 2-sided phototherapy predicts Firefly rate of -5.3 μMol/L/hr (-0.31 mg/dL/hr) given initial TSB of 265 μMol/L (15.5 mg/dL)

A Clinical Evaluation of 17 infant treatments indicated Firefly reduces treatment time for a typical patient by at least 40% compared to state-of-the-art single-sided LED phototherapy. Reduced treatment time meant discharge from the highly infectious hospital environment after 20 hours on average instead of the typical 35 hours or often much longer in low-resource settings.

Clinical trials continued: As of July 18, 2012, local clinical trial doctors reported 3 out of 55 infants treated with Firefly would have had to undergo an exchange blood transfusion if Firefly had not been available.

A recent peer-reviewed study (Arnolda et al., PLOS One, 2018) summarizes the results of a two-year side-by-side comparison of phototherapy performance between single- and double-sided devices conducted at Danang Women and Children’s Hospital in Vietnam. Compared to the GE Lullaby overhead phototherapy device, Firefly showed a 54% increase in the hourly rate of bilirubin (TSB) reduction and an overall 21% decrease in newborn treatment time.

Firefly cannot be used with overhead infant warmers due to the design (it can be used with side warmers). This means that it is better suited for use in warm climates or for treating term infants who have jaundice but can regulate their own body temperature.