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 that includes:
(i) a housing that includes (a) a rechargeable battery; (b) a power charging circuit for controlling the charging of the rechargeable battery; (c) control electronics powered by the rechargeable battery; (d) an air pump powered by the rechargeable battery and generating negative air pressure; (e) control icons including an arrow to indicate ‘start pumping’ and at least one straight line to indicate ‘stop pumping’, in which the appearance of the control icons is correct only when viewed from the top down;
(ii) a breast shield made up of a breast flange and a nipple tunnel; and
(iii) a milk container that is configured to attach to the housing.
2 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which the control icons include an arrow that points to the left from a frontal view and is only correctly oriented to point to the right from a top-down view.
3 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which the control icons include an arrow that is placed is to the right of the straight line or lines from a frontal view and is only correctly positioned to the left of the straight line or lines from a top-down view.
4 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which the control icons are positioned adjacent to the top of a curved front face of the housing.
5 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which the breast pump device includes a measurement sub-system that infers the quantity of the milk in the milk container from the level of the milk in the milk container.
6 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which the height of, or quantity of, the milk in the milk container is sent by the device to, and displayed on, an application running on a connected device, such as a smartphone.
7 . The breast pump device of claim 5 , in which the measurement sub-system includes (a) at least one light emitter, configured to direct radiation towards the surface of the milk in the milk container; (b) at least one light detector, configured to detect reflected radiation from the surface of the milk.
8 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which there are one or more light emitters and detectors positioned in the base of the housing, positioned above the milk container.
9 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which the top of the milk container includes an optically clear region that is aligned below one or more light emitters positioned in the base of the housing.
10 . The breast pump device of claim 5 , in which the measurement sub-system includes or communicates with an accelerometer and uses a signal from the accelerometer to determine if the liquid is sufficiently still to permit the sensor to accurately measure or infer the quantity and/or the height of the liquid in the container.
11 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which a haptic and/or visual indicator indicates if there is too much movement of the breast pump system for viable operation.
12 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which a haptic and/or visual indicator indicates if the amount of milk in the milk container has reached a preset quantity or level.
13 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which the device includes a microcontroller programmed to dynamically change one or more parameters of the pumping mechanism, and to automatically detect the start of milk let-down.
14 . The breast pump device of claim 5 , in which the measurement sub-system provides data to a data analysis system that determines metrics that correlate with user-defined requirements for milk-flow rate or milk expression.
15 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which a user-defined requirement is to enhance or increase milk-flow or to reduce milk-flow.
16 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system analyses data including one or more of the following: amount of milk expressed over one or more sessions, rate at which milk is expressed over one or more sessions, profile of the rate at which milk is expressed over one or more sessions.
17 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system processes pump operation metrics such as any of the following: 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 time of day.
18 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system processes data including one or more of the following: amount and type of liquids consumed by the mother, state of relaxation of the mother before or during a session, state of quiet experienced by the mother before or during a session, what overall milk expression profile the mother most closely matches.
19 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system gives recommended pump operation metrics for one or more of: improving milk flow or milk supply; for weaning; if an optimal session start time or a complete session has been missed.
20 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system leads to automatic setting of pump operation metrics for the pumping mechanism, such as pump speed, length of a single pumping session, vacuum level, cycle times, changing profile of pump speed over a single pumping session.
21 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which metrics include the specific usage of the connected device by a woman while using the pump.
22 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system analyses milk expression metrics such as any of the following: amount of milk expressed over one or more sessions, rate at which milk is expressed over one or more sessions, profile of the rate at which milk is expressed over one or more sessions.
23 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system analyses pump operation metrics such as any of the following: 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 time of day.
24 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system analyses metrics such as any of the following: amount and type of liquids consumed by the mother, state of relaxation of the mother before or during a session, state of quiet experienced by the mother before or during a session, what overall milk expression profile the mother most closely matches.
25 . The breast pump device of claim 14 , in which the data analysis system enables sharing data from multiple connected breast pump devices to optimize the milk pumping or milk weaning efficacy of the breast pump.
26 . The breast pump device of claim 1 , in which a social media or community function or platform organizes the data from the from multiple connected breast pump devices into different profiles and a user selects a matching profile from a set of potential profiles, and each profile is associated with a specific kind of milk expression profile, and provides information or advice that is specifically relevant to each milk expression profile.
27 . The breast pump device of claim 26 , in which information or advice includes advice on how to increase milk expression by varying parameters, such as time of milk expression, frequency of a milk expression session, pump speed, length of a single pumping session, vacuum level, cycle times, changing profile of pump speed over a single pumping session and any other parameter that can be varied by a mother to help her achieve her milk expression goals.