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Neonatal jaundice is a common medical condition in newborns characterized by the yellowing of the skin and eyes because of increased levels of bilirubin in the blood. This condition is a result of the physiological breakdown of fetal hemoglobin and the immature liver's inability to efficiently process and excrete bilirubin. Although neonatal jaundice often appears benign, it can worsen and cause long-term neurological issues called kernicterus in some babies. Serum bilirubin testing, a traditional diagnostic approach, is often utilized to evaluate neonatal jaundice. This procedure is invasive, time-consuming, and occasionally associated with infections in newborns. On the other hand, Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) has become an effective, non-invasive method for identifying and quantifying various biological chromophores. The assessment of tissue scattering and absorption characteristics over a wide spectral range, typically from UV to near-infrared, is the basic principle of the DRS approach. By analyzing the diffuse reflectance spectra, it becomes possible to extract valuable information about the concentration and distribution of chromophores in tissues. In this study, we used an optical approach to quantify the concentration of bilirubin in the neonates from the diffuse reflected signal of their skin. In comparison to SBR, it is found that it is viable to estimate the bilirubin concentration with a low margin of error as well as that it requires less time. This early diagnosis and non-invasive method might assist pediatricians in initiating further therapies such as phototherapy and exchange transfusion.
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