Photosafe

An affordable IoT-based neonatal phototherapy safety system that prevents overheating, UV exposure, and unsafe light intensity during jaundice treatment.

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Inspiration

During clinical and academic research in neonatal care, I observed a persistent challenge in hospitals, particularly in rural and resource-limited settings. Phototherapy equipment, although widely used to treat neonatal jaundice, often operates without any real-time monitoring or automatic safety control.

In several facilities, healthcare workers manually monitor temperature, light intensity, and treatment duration a process that is not only time-consuming but prone to human error. When phototherapy lamps overheat, emit incorrect light wavelengths, or run longer than required, newborns may suffer from:

  1. Hyperthermia or hypothermia
  2. Excessive dehydration or skin burns
  3. Eye damage if protection fails
  4. Ineffective bilirubin breakdown due to poor light quality/intensity

This reality inspired me to design PhotoSafe a smart, low-cost, and clinically relevant system that ensures phototherapy treatment remains effective, safe, and compliant with medical standards, without increasing the workload of healthcare staff

What it does

PhotoSafe is a smart monitoring and safety system for neonatal phototherapy units. It performs the following:

  1. Real-Time Monitoring
  2. Room temperature and humidity (DHT11/DHT22)
  3. Infant skin and ambient temperature (MLX90614)
  4. Light intensity in lux (BH1750)
  5. Spectral blue light at 415 nm, 445 nm, and 480 nm (AS7341)
  6. UV intensity — expected to stay at zero during jaundice treatment

Smart Protection & Alerts

Compares each sensor value to defined medical safety thresholds

If any parameter exceeds its threshold, the system automatically switches off the phototherapy lamp using a relay

  1. Activates a red LED indicator, and remains in alert mode until manually reset
  2. A physical reset button or IoT dashboard reset function can restore normal operation
  3. Green LED shows normal/ safe operation status

IoT & Data Logging

  1. All sensor data is displayed live on the Arduino IoT Cloud dashboard
  2. Doctors or nurses can monitor conditions remotely in real-time
  3. Data is automatically logged for analysis, research, and clinical documentation

How I built it

Hardware Components Used

  1. Arduino UNO R4 WiFi
  2. DHT11 – room temperature and humidity
  3. MLX90614 – non-contact body and air temperature
  4. BH1750 – light intensity in lux
  5. AS7341 – spectral bands of phototherapy light
  6. UV sensor – safety validation (should stay zero for jaundice treatment)
  7. 20×4 I2C LCD for local display
  8. Relay module, buzzer (optional), push button, red and green LEDs

Software & IoT

  1. Programmed using Arduino IDE (C/C++)
  2. Connected to Arduino IoT Cloud for dashboard visualization and remote control=
  3. Safety thresholds like temperature, light intensity, and humidity can be changed from the cloud
  4. Real-time alerts and logging ensure clinical traceability

Challenges I ran into

  1. Managing I2C conflicts among multiple sensors
  2. Calibrating medical sensors for consistent and accurate results
  3. Ensuring UV measurements remain zero for neonatal jaundice therapy
  4. Designing a safe relay-based cutoff system for medical equipment
  5. Handling false triggers caused by sudden environmental fluctuations

Accomplishments that I am proud of

  1. Built a working prototype that successfully monitors and protects newborns under phototherapy
  2. Integrated spectral measurement of therapeutic light (415–480 nm) for clinical accuracy
  3. IoT-enabled remote monitoring and data logging for medical staff

What I learned

  1. How to combine biomedical engineering with IoT and embedded systems
  2. The importance of safety thresholds in medical device design
  3. Real-time sensor fusion and decision-making using microcontrollers
  4. Cloud integration, data visualization, and user-focused design
  5. The value of field research and observing challenges in real neonatal care settings

What's next for Photosafe

  1. Clinical testing and validation with hospitals and health research institutions
  2. Mobile app integration for remote nurse alerts and monitoring
  3. Treatment duration tracking and automated phototherapy session control
  4. Battery and solar-powered version for rural hospitals
  5. Extended application to other light-based therapies (eczema, psoriasis, UV dermatology)

Built With

  • arduino
  • arduino-iot-cloud
  • mermaid-editor
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