Breast pump system
The invention is a wearable breast pump system including a housing shaped at least in part to fit inside a bra and a piezo air-pump. The piezo air-pump is fitted in the housing and forms part of a closed loop system that drives a separate, deformable diaphragm to generate negative air pressure. The diaphragm is removably mounted on a breast shield.
1. A breast pump device that is configured as a self-contained, in-bra wearable device and configured to be used with both left and right breasts, and that includes:
a housing that includes:
a battery, and
a pump powered by the battery and generating negative air pressure;
a breast shield made up of a breast flange and a nipple tunnel;
a milk container that is configured to be attached to and removed from the housing; and
a control interface that is user selectable to indicate or record if milk is being expressed from the left or the right breast and that, when selected for a particular pumping session, sends data to a connected application, running on a user device, that tracks pumping sessions, to indicate whether that particular session is associated with the left or the right breast,
the control interface including a set of visual indicators indicating whether the breast pump device is set up for pumping from the left or the right breast, and the set of visual indicators including a visual indicator for the left breast and a visual indicator for the right breast, in which the visual indicator for the left breast is on a right-hand side of the housing and the visual indicator for the right breast is on a left-hand side of the housing when viewing the breast pump device from a front of the breast pump device.
2. The breast pump device of claim 1 , wherein the control interface is a physical interface on the housing.
3. The breast pump device of claim 1 , wherein the control interface includes a single control button on the housing.
4. The breast pump device of claim 1 , further including a sensor sub-system that is configured to infer a quantity of the milk in the milk container from a measured level of the milk in the milk container.
5. The breast pump device of claim 4 , wherein the sensor sub-system includes or is configured to communicate with an accelerometer and is configured to use a signal from the accelerometer to determine if the milk is sufficiently still to permit a sensor to accurately measure the level of the milk in the milk container.
6. The breast pump device of claim 4 , wherein the sensor sub-system is configured to provide data to a data analysis system that can use the data to determine metrics that correlate with user-defined requirements for milk-flow rate or milk expression.
7. The breast pump device of claim 1 , further including a communication interface configured to send a level of or quantity of the milk in the milk container to the connected application.
8. The breast pump device of claim 1 , further including one or more light emitters or detectors positioned in a base of the housing and positioned above the milk container.
9. The breast pump device of claim 8 , wherein a top of the milk container includes an optically clear region that is aligned below the one or more light emitters or detectors positioned in the base of the housing.
10. The breast pump device of claim 1 , further including a haptic or visual indicator configured to indicate if there is too much movement of the breast pump device for viable operation.
11. The breast pump device of claim 1 , further including a haptic or visual indicator configured to indicate if an amount of the milk in the milk container has reached a preset quantity or level.
12. The breast pump device of claim 1 , further including a microcontroller programmed to dynamically change one or more parameters of an operation of the pump and to automatically detect a start of milk let-down.
13. The breast pump device of claim 1 , wherein the battery is a rechargeable battery, and the housing further includes: a power charging circuit for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery, and control electronics powered by the rechargeable battery.
14. A system, comprising:
the breast pump device of claim 1 ; and
the user device, the user device including a control interface on the connected application running on the user device, the control interface being user selectable to indicate or record if the milk is being expressed from the left or the right breast.
15. A system, comprising:
the breast pump device of claim 4 ; and a data analysis system that can use data provided by the sensor sub-system to determine metrics that correlate with user-defined requirements for milk-flow rate or milk expression.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the user-defined requirements include a user-defined requirement to enhance or increase milk-flow or to reduce milk-flow.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the data analysis system is configured to analyze data including one or more of: amount of milk expressed over one or more sessions, rate at which milk is expressed over one or more sessions, or profile of a rate at which milk is expressed over one or more sessions.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the data analysis system is configured to process data on pump operation parameters including one or more of: pump speed, length of a single pumping session, negative air pressure or vacuum level, peak negative air pressure or vacuum level, pump cycle time or frequency, changing profile of pump speed over a single pumping session, or time of day.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the data analysis system is configured to process data including one or more of: amount or type of liquids consumed by a user of the breast pump device, state of relaxation of the user before or during a session, state of quiet experienced by the user before or during a session, an overall milk expression profile that a milk expression profile of the user most closely matches.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the data analysis system is configured to communicate to the breast pump device recommended pump operation parameters for one or more of: improving milk flow or milk supply; weaning; when an optimal session start time or a complete session has been missed.
21. The system of claim 15 , wherein the data analysis system is configured to cause the breast pump device to automatically set one or more parameters of an operation of the pump, the one or more parameters including one or more of: pump speed, length of a single pumping session, vacuum level, cycle times, or changing profile of pump speed over a single pumping session.
22. The system of claim 15 , wherein the metrics include specific usage of the connected application by a user while using the breast pump device.
23. The system of claim 15 , wherein the data analysis system is configured to enable sharing of data from multiple connected breast pump devices connected to the data analysis system to optimize the milk pumping or milk weaning efficacy of the breast pump device.
24. The system of claim 15 , wherein the data analysis system is communicatively coupled to a social media or community function or platform that is configured to organize the data from the multiple connected breast pump devices into different profiles, the system further comprising:
a user interface configured to allow the user to select a matching profile from a set of profiles, and each profile of the set of profiles is associated with a specific kind of milk expression profile and information or advice that is specifically relevant to that specific milk expression profile.
25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the information or advice includes advice on how to increase milk expression by varying parameters including one or more of: time of milk expression, frequency of a milk expression session, pump speed, length of a single pumping session, vacuum level, cycle times, or changing profile of pump speed over a single pumping session.
26. A breast pump device that is configured as a self-contained, in-bra wearable device and configured to be used with both left and right breasts, and that includes:
a housing that includes a battery, and a pump powered by the battery and generating negative air pressure;
a breast shield made up of a breast flange and a nipple tunnel;
a milk container that is configured to be attached to and removed from the housing; and
a control interface that is user selectable to indicate or record if milk is being expressed from the left or the right breast and that, when selected for a particular pumping session, sends data to a connected application, running on a user device, that tracks pumping sessions, to indicate whether that particular session is associated with the left or the right breast,
the control interface including a button or interface labelled to indicate the left breast and a button or interface labelled to indicate the right breast, that are respectively configured to illuminate to indicate from which of the left breast or the right breast the milk is being expressed.
27. The breast pump device of claim 26 , wherein the control interface is a physical interface on the housing.
28. The breast pump device of claim 26 , wherein the control interface includes a single control button on the housing.
29. The breast pump device of claim 26 , further including a sensor sub-system that is configured to infer a quantity of the milk in the milk container from a measured level of the milk in the milk container.
30. The breast pump device of claim 29 , wherein the sensor sub-system includes or is configured to communicate with an accelerometer and is configured to use a signal from the accelerometer to determine if the milk is sufficiently still to permit a sensor to accurately measure the level of the milk in the milk container.
31. The breast pump device of claim 29 , wherein the sensor sub-system is configured to provide data to a data analysis system that can use the data to determine metrics that correlate with user-defined requirements for milk-flow rate or milk expression.
32. The breast pump device of claim 26 , further including a communication interface configured to send a level of or quantity of the milk in the milk container to the connected application.
33. The breast pump device of claim 26 , further inclduing one or more light emitters or detectors positioned in a base of the housing and positioned above the milk container.
34. The breast pump device of claim 33 , wherein a top of the milk container includes an optically clear region that is aligned below the one or more light emitters or detectors positioned in the base of the housing.
35. The breast pump device of claim 26 , further inclduing a haptic or visual indicator configured to indicate if there is too much movement of the breast pump device for viable operation.
36. The breast pump device of claim 26 , further inclduing a haptic or visual indicator configured to indicate if an amount of the milk in the milk container has reached a preset quantity or level.
37. The breast pump device of claim 26 , further inclduing a microcontroller programmed to dynamically change one or more parameters of an operation of the pump and to automatically detect a start of milk let-down.
38. The breast pump device of claim 26 , wherein the battery is a rechargeable battery, and the housing further includes: a power charging circuit for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery, and control electronics powered by the rechargeable battery.