Evaluation of MBJ20® Transcutaneous Bilirubinometer in the Assessement of Severity of Neonatal Jaundice

The objective of this study was to evaluate the MBJ20® transcutaneous bilirubinonometer by Beijing M&B Electronic Instrument Co. Ltd. (Beijing, China) in the assessment of severity of neonatal jaundice. Two hundred and twenty-two paired samples from 88 newborns aged between 28 and 44 weeks of gestation at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi Anambra State, were analyzed. These infants had total serum bilirubin (TSB) levels measured on clinical indication, and transcutaneous bilirubin (TcB) levels were obtained at the forehead and sternum within 10 min of the TSB levels. There was a close correlation between TSB and TcBF and between TSB and TcBS for all the paired readings (n = 222, r = 0.904; n = 222, r = 0.917, respectively). MBJ20 values differed on average from the TSB values by 3.2 mg/dL for TcBF and 2.0 mg/dL for TcBs. We conclude that TcB measurements using the MBJ20 jaundice meter correlate very closely with TSB levels over the range of TSB encountered in this study and that estimation of TcB should be done at both the forehead and sternum.