Systems and devices for controlling delivery of breast milk supplementation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016288982-A1
Application number	US-201514673401-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 substrate sized for placement on a surface of a breast region of a lactating female, one or more supplement reservoirs associated with the substrate, at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs including a port with a controllable valve, 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 data storage component and to the controllable valve of the at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs, the circuitry including actuation circuitry configured to actuate the controllable valve of the at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs based on the breast milk supplement regimen.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A breast milk supplement delivery device comprising:
a substrate sized for placement on a surface of a breast region of a lactating female; one or more supplement reservoirs associated with the substrate and adapted to contain one or more breast milk supplements, at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs including a port with a controllable valve; 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 data storage component and to the controllable valve of the at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs, the circuitry including actuation circuitry configured to actuate the controllable valve of the at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs based on the breast milk supplement regimen.

2 .- 3 . (canceled)

4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a flexible substrate.

5 .- 6 . (canceled)

7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes an adhesive on a surface conforming to the surface of the breast region of the lactating female.

8 . (canceled)

9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises two or more layers and at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs is disposed between the two or more layers of the substrate.

10 .- 13 . (canceled)

14 . 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.

15 .- 16 . (canceled)

17 . 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.

18 .- 19 . (canceled)

20 . 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 an infant to the specific food type.

21 . (canceled)

22 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the controllable valve includes a piezoelectric valve.

23 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the port is in fluid communication with at least one flow conduit, the at least one flow conduit including a first end attached to the port and a second end configured for positioning proximal to a nipple of the lactating female.

24 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the port is in fluid communication with an absorbent layer.

25 .- 29 . (canceled)

30 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the breast milk supplement regimen is personalized for an infant based on attributes of the infant.

31 .- 32 . (canceled)

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

34 .- 38 . (canceled)

39 . 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 an infant and a quality of breast milk of the lactating female.

40 . (canceled)

41 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one delivery event sensor; delivery event circuitry configured to receive information associated with a delivery event from the at least one delivery event sensor; and reporting circuitry configured to report the delivery event.

42 . The device of claim 41 , 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.

43 .- 50 . (canceled)

51 . The device of claim 41 , wherein the reporting circuitry includes circuitry configured to report the delivery event to a personal electronic device.

52 . (canceled)

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

54 .- 55 . (canceled)

56 . The device of claim 53 , wherein the transmission unit comprises at least one of a radiofrequency transmission unit, a radiofrequency identification (RFID) transmission unit, an optical transmission unit, or an audio transmission unit.

57 . (canceled)

58 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a user interface.

59 . (canceled)

60 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one analyte sensor associated with the substrate and operably coupled to the control unit, the at least one analyte sensor configured to sense at least one analyte, wherein the control unit includes circuitry configured to receive information associated with the sensed at least one analyte from the at least one analyte sensor, and circuitry configured to actuate the controllable valve of at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs in response to the received information associated with the sensed at least one analyte.

61 . The device of claim 60 , wherein the at least one analyte sensor includes at least one of a saliva analyte sensor configured to sense at least one saliva analyte, an exhaled breath analyte sensor configured to sense at least one exhaled breath analyte, or a breast milk analyte sensor configured to sense at least one breast milk analyte.

62 .- 64 . (canceled)

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

66 .- 67 . (canceled)

68 . The device of claim 65 , wherein the infant presence detector comprises at least one of a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, an electrical conductivity sensor, a radar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a microphone, a camera, a photodetector, or a strain sensor.

69 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising
a vibration delivery component configured to vibrate at least a portion of the substrate.

70 . 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 substrate and at least one of the one or more supplement reservoirs.

71 . A breast milk supplement delivery device comprising:
a substrate sized for placement on a surface of a breast region of a lactating female in proximity to at least one nipple, at least a portion of the substrate including an absorbent material; and at least one flavoring associated with the absorbent material, the at least one flavoring intended to acclimate an infant to a food associated with the at least one flavoring.

72 .- 83 . (

Assignees

• Elwha Llc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• B65D85/72

  for edible or potable liquids, semiliquids, or plastic or pasty materials · CPC title

• B65D83/00 Primary

  Containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents (dispensing means incorporated in closures B65D47/00) · CPC title

• A61J9/00 Primary

  Feeding-bottles in general · CPC title

• A61J2200/72

  for temperature · CPC title

• A61J7/0427 Primary

  with direct interaction with a dispensing or delivery system · CPC title