Effectiveness of a locally made eye protector for neonates treated with phototherapy at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Malawi: a bench study
Gillian Mwale, Thembikile Nyasulu, Tanaka Mudzengerere, Kondwani Kawaza · 2026
Read Effectiveness of a locally made eye protector for neonates treated with phototherapy at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Malawi: a bench study by Gillian Mwale, Thembikile Nyasulu, Tanaka Mudzengerere, Kondwani Kawaza (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13548527.txt.
Description
Gillian Mwale and colleagues test eye protection for newborns receiving light therapy at a large hospital in Malawi, in a 2026 bench study. Babies treated for jaundice need their eyes shielded from intense blue light, yet the hospital lacked standard shields, so nurses improvised with gauze, plaster, and face masks. The team built a reusable cotton shield and measured how much light passed through each material.
Light meter readings were taken at four distances from the lamp, with twenty samples of each shield type. Face masks blocked the least light, and gauze varied with thickness. The new cotton shield and the reference shield let no measurable light through at any distance. For wards without commercial shields, the authors offer the washable cotton design as a workable substitute.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Gillian Mwale, Thembikile Nyasulu, Tanaka Mudzengerere, Kondwani Kawaza |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 26430 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |