IP Library › Patent Application 11134056
Patent Application
App. No. 11/134,056

Method and apparatus for measuring factors in mammary fluids

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US None
App. No.
11/134,056
Abstract

The present invention relates generally to breast fluid aspirators, and more specifically to an apparatus, a system, and a method for determining the risk of breast disease in a biological sample obtained for the breast by means of a breast fluid aspirator.

Claims (20)

1 . A method for detecting a biological factor in a fluid sample obtained from a mammary gland, comprising the steps of:

non-invasively obtaining a mammary gland fluid from a subject comprising the steps of:

applying transcutaneous electrical stimulation to the mammary gland;

warming the mammary gland;

peristaltically massaging the mammary gland from a chest wall to a nipple; and

extracting the mammary fluid from the nipple by expression or aspiration; and

detecting the biological factor in the mammary gland fluid.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the biological factor is selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid, a protein, a peptide, a glycoprotein, a lipid and a biochemical product.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the nucleic acid is DNA or RNA.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the biochemical product is β-carotene or a derivative thereof.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the biochemical product is detected by chromatography.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the biological factor is detected by employing a probe that specifically interacts with the biological factor.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the probe is selected from the group consisting of a monoclonal antibody, a polyclonal antibody, and a nucleic acid.

8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the biochemical product is a carotenoid.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is a mammal.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the mammal is a human.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises warming the mammary gland prior to massaging.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is administered oxytocin prior to massaging the mammary gland.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mammary gland fluid is a breast milk.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the breast milk is a colostrum breast milk.