Systems and devices for controlling delivery of breast milk supplementation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016287481-A1
Application number	US-201514673456-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 30, 2015
Priority date	Mar 30, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and devices for controlling delivery of a breast milk supplement are described which include a nipple component including aperture; a guard component attached to the nipple component; a supplement reservoir including a port with a controllable valve, the supplement reservoir adapted to contain one or more breast milk supplements, a flow conduit disposed within at least a portion of the nipple component and having a first end in fluid communication with the aperture and a second end in fluid communication with the port; a data storage component including a breast milk supplement regimen; and a control unit operably coupled to the controllable valve and the data storage component and including a microprocessor and circuitry, the circuitry including actuation circuitry configured to actuate the controllable valve to module release of the one or more breast milk supplements based on the breast milk supplement regimen.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A breast milk supplement delivery device comprising:
a nipple component sized for placement in an infant's mouth, the nipple component having a first end and a second end, the first end of the nipple component including an aperture; a guard component attached to the second end of the nipple component; a supplement reservoir including a port with a controllable valve, the supplement reservoir adapted to contain one or more breast milk supplements; a flow conduit disposed within at least a portion of the nipple component, a first end of the flow conduit in fluid communication with the aperture on the first end of the nipple component and a second end of the flow conduit in fluid communication with the port of the supplement reservoir; a data storage component including a breast milk supplement regimen; and a control unit including a microprocessor and circuitry, the control unit operably coupled to the controllable valve and to the data storage component, the circuitry including actuation circuitry configured to actuate the controllable valve to modulate release of the one or more breast milk supplements from the supplement reservoir based on the breast milk supplement regimen.

2 .- 8 . (canceled)

9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more breast milk supplements comprises a lipid, a protein, an oligosaccharide, a fatty acid, a carbohydrate, a nutrient, a micronutrient, a vitamin, an amino acid, a mineral a therapeutic agent, an antimicrobial agent, a prebiotic, a probiotic, or a nucleotide.

10 .- 11 . (canceled)

12 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more breast milk supplements comprises an appetite stimulator or an appetite suppressant.

13 .- 14 . (canceled)

15 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more breast milk supplements comprises a flavoring associated with a specific food type, the flavoring intended to acclimate the infant to the specific food type.

16 .- 18 . (canceled)

19 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the controllable valve includes an actuator, the actuator operably coupled to the actuation circuitry.

20 .- 21 . (canceled)

22 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the actuation circuitry includes circuitry configured to at least one of open the controllable valve, close the controllable valve, change a pressure threshold of the controllable valve, increase an opening size of the controllable valve, decrease an opening size of the controllable valve, or alter a permeability or porosity of the controllable valve.

23 .- 26 . (canceled)

27 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the breast milk supplement regimen is personalized for at least one attribute of the infant.

28 .- 29 . (canceled)

30 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the breast milk supplement regimen is personalized for a quality of breast milk of the a lactating female.

31 .- 32 . (canceled)

33 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the breast milk supplement regimen is adjustable based on a change in at least one of an attribute of the infant or a quality of breast milk of a lactating female.

34 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one delivery event sensor.

35 . The device of claim 34 , wherein the at least one delivery event sensor includes at least one of a flow sensor, a pressure sensor, a strain sensor, a conductivity sensor, an acoustic sensor, an optical transmission sensor, a clock, or a weight sensor.

36 . (canceled)

37 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the control unit includes delivery event circuitry configured to receive information associated with a delivery event from at least one delivery event sensor; and reporting circuitry configured to report the delivery event.

38 .- 43 . (canceled)

44 . The device of claim 37 , wherein the reporting circuitry includes circuitry configured to report the delivery event to a personal electronic device.

45 . (canceled)

46 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a transmission unit including circuitry and at least one antenna, wherein the transmission unit is operably coupled to the control unit.

47 .- 52 . (canceled)

53 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one analyte sensor operably coupled to the control unit, the at least one analyte sensor configured to sense at least one analyte, the control unit including circuitry configured to adjust the breast milk supplement regimen based on the sensed at least one analyte.

54 .- 58 . (canceled)

59 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
an infant presence detector; wherein the infant presence detector is configured to detect the presence or absence of the infant in proximity to the breast milk supplement delivery device, and to provide an infant presence signal to the control unit; and wherein the actuation circuitry includes circuitry configured to actuate the controllable valve of the supplement reservoir based on the infant presence signal.

60 .- 62 . (canceled)

63 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a temperature control component configured to control a temperature of at least one of a portion of the nipple component and the one or more supplement reservoirs.

64 . A breast milk supplement delivery device comprising:
a nipple component sized for placement in an infant's mouth, the nipple component having a first end and a second end, the first end of the nipple component including an aperture; a guard component attached to the second end of the nipple component; a supplement reservoir including a port with a controllable valve, the supplement reservoir adapted to contain one or more breast milk supplements; a flow conduit disposed within at least a portion of the nipple component, a first end of the flow conduit in fluid communication with the aperture on the first end of the nipple component and a second end of the flow conduit in fluid communication with the port of the supplement reservoir; one or more analyte sensors associated with at least one of the nipple component and the guard component; and a control unit including a microprocessor and circuitry, the control unit operably coupled to the controllable valve and to the one or more analyte sensors, the circuitry including actuation circuitry configured to actuate the controllable valve; wherein the control unit includes circuitry configured to receive information associated with at least one analyte from at least one of the one or more analyte sensors and to actuate the controllable valve to modulate release of the one or more breast milk supplements from the supplement reservoir in response to the received information associated with the at least one analyte.

65 .- 70 . (canceled)

71 . The device of claim 64 , further comprising:
two or more supplement reservoirs, each of the two or more supplement reservoirs including a port with a controllable valve, wherein the port is in fluid communication with the flow conduit.

72 .- 82 . (canceled)

83 . The device of claim 64 , wherein the controllable valve includes an actuator, the actuator operably coupled to the actuation circuitry.

84 . The device of claim 83 , wherein the

Assignees

• Elwha Llc

Inventors

• Chin Hon Wah
• Hyde Roderick A
• Sweeney Elizabeth A
• Wood Jr Lowell L

Classifications

• A61J13/00

  Breast-nipple shields (breast-pumps A61M1/06) · CPC title

• A61J7/0015

  Devices specially adapted for taking medicines · CPC title

• A61J7/0076

  Medicament distribution means (with pill counting devices A61J7/02; with time indication A61J7/04; containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents B65D83/00) · CPC title

• A61J2200/74

  for weight · CPC title

• A61J7/0053

  Syringes, pipettes or oral dispensers · CPC title