Phototherapy is used to treat hyperbulirubinemia, a common condition in infants, referring to an increase in the amount of bilirubin in the blood. It is characterized by jaundice, a yellowish discoloration of the skin. Phototherapy immerses the patient in a bath of fluorescent light, which breaks up and disperses the excess bilirubin. In the past, clinicians relied on phototherapy units which resembled tanning tables, with the infant placed on a surface illuminated by overhead fluorescent lights. This required the infant to be isolated for long periods of time, with protection pads to shield the eyes from the light.

With the development of flexible fluorescent panels, it was now possible to wrap the infant in the panel during treatment, without eye protection, and still allow the parent to hold the child during part of all of the therapy.

Healthdyne (Respironics) Wallaby II

(FBWALLABY/ FBWALLABYII)

The Healthdyne (formerly FibreOptic, now manufactured by Respironics) Wallaby devices use a flexible long, flat fluorescent panel attached to the main unit by a short connector. The earlier Wallaby (model MD-1000) was replaced by the Wallaby II (model MD-2000), which has two levels of illumination controlled by a rocker switch on the front panel, and a second bulb which the clinician can swing into place using a panel-mounted pushbutton when the first bulb burns out (the Wallaby also has a spare bulb, but the housing must be removed to install it).  Respironics replaced the Wallaby II with the Wallaby III (model H-3600), which uses the same fluorescent panel as the Wallaby II, is lighter (7.15 lbs. instead of the 14 lbs. of the Wallaby II), has a longer bulb life (285 hours on level 1 and 600 hours on level 2), and automatically switches to the second bulb when the first one burns out with no action by the clinician.  Manufacture of the Wallaby II was discontinued in August of 2000, but the company promises service support for 5 years.

Both the Wallaby and earlier versions of the Wallaby II (model MD-500) use illuminator panel #EG2000R. The later Wallaby II’s (model MD-2000) and Wallaby III's  use illuminator panel #EG-2000 (no "R" suffix), which is incompatible with the older Wallaby models.

All Wallaby systems have safety circuitry which cuts off power to the unit if bumped, pushed, or overturned, or if the case housing is opened during operation.

Also available for the Wallaby units are disposable covers (#MD-510) which fit over the illuminator panel, and extra EKE projector lamps (#FS-110).

Healthdyne Wallaby 3
(FBWALLABY3)

The Wallaby 3 system, manufactured by Respironics, is the newest version of the Wallaby phototherapy line. The unit itself is much smaller than earlier Wallaby versions, weighing only 7.15 pounds. The unit also improves upon the lamp-replacement carousel found in the Wallaby II (the user can manually push a switch on the front panel to swivel the new lamp into place) by incorporating an automatic carousel which swivels the second lamp as soon as the first one burns out.  This also alleviates the common problem of accidentally pushing the carousel button during shipment.

The Wallaby 3 uses the same fluorescent panels as the Wallaby II (#EG-2000, wrap-around panel, and # EG2000N, neonatal panel), and like the Wallaby II has two levels of illumination, chosen with a front-panel rocker switch. It has a detachable standard hospital-grade AC cord, unlike earlier versions which have an attached cord.

Suggested Substitutions: Ohmeda Billiblanket, PEP Adpep Billilight, Medela BiliBed