A Clinical Experiment on Infant Applied Pressures During Breastfeeding

Author(s):  
Lin Jiang ◽  
Diana L. Alatalo ◽  
Donna T. Geddes ◽  
Fatemeh Hassanipour

Breastfeeding provides both nutrients and immunities necessary for infant growth. Understanding the biomechanics of breastfeeding requires capturing both positive and negative pressures exerted by infants on the breast. This clinical experimental work utilizes thin, flexible pressure sensors to capture the positive oral pressures of 7 mother-infant dyads during breastfeeding while simultaneously measuring vacuum pressures and imaging of the infants oral cavity movement via ultrasound. Methods for denoising signals and evaluating ultrasound images are discussed. Changes and deformations on the nipple are evaluated. The results reveal that pressure from the infant’s maxilla and mandible are evenly distributed in an oscillatory pattern corresponding to the vacuum pressure patterns. Variations in nipple dimensions are considerably smaller than variations in either pressure but the ultrasound shows positive pressure dominates structural changes during breastfeeding. Clinical implications for infant-led milk expression and data processing are discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Alatalo ◽  
Lin Jiang ◽  
Donna Geddes ◽  
Fatemeh Hassanipour

Abstract Breastfeeding is a complex process where the infant utilizes two forms of pressure during suckling, vacuum and compression. Infant applied compression, or positive oral pressure, to the breast has not been previously studied in vivo. The goal of this study is to use a methodology to capture the positive oral pressure values exerted by infants' maxilla (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw) on the breast areola during breastfeeding. In this study, the positive and negative (vacuum) pressure values are obtained simultaneously on six lactating mothers. Parallel to the pressure data measurements, ultrasound images are captured and processed to reveal the nipple deformations and the displacements of infants' tongues and jaw movements during breastfeeding. Motivated by the significant differences in composition between the tissue of the breast and the nipple–areola complex, the strain ratio values of the lactating nipples are obtained using these deformation measurements along with pre- and postfeed three-dimensional (3D) scans of the breast. The findings show an oscillatory positive pressure profile on the breast under both maxilla and mandible, which differs from clinical indications that only the mandible of an infant moves during breastfeeding. The strain ratio varies between mothers, which indicates volume changes in the nipple during feeding and suggests that previous assumptions regarding strain ratio for nonlactating breasts will not accurately apply to breast tissue during lactation.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvie Bilent ◽  
Thi Hong Nhung Dinh ◽  
Emile Martincic ◽  
Pierre-Yves Joubert

This paper reports on the study of microporous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) foams as a highly deformable dielectric material used in the composition of flexible capacitive pressure sensors dedicated to wearable use. A fabrication process allowing the porosity of the foams to be adjusted was proposed and the fabricated foams were characterized. Then, elementary capacitive pressure sensors (15 × 15 mm2 square shaped electrodes) were elaborated with fabricated foams (5 mm or 10 mm thick) and were electromechanically characterized. Since the sensor responses under load are strongly non-linear, a behavioral non-linear model (first order exponential) was proposed, adjusted to the experimental data, and used to objectively estimate the sensor performances in terms of sensitivity and measurement range. The main conclusions of this study are that the porosity of the PDMS foams can be adjusted through the sugar:PDMS volume ratio and the size of sugar crystals used to fabricate the foams. Additionally, the porosity of the foams significantly modified the sensor performances. Indeed, compared to bulk PDMS sensors of the same size, the sensitivity of porous PDMS sensors could be multiplied by a factor up to 100 (the sensitivity is 0.14 %.kPa−1 for a bulk PDMS sensor and up to 13.7 %.kPa−1 for a porous PDMS sensor of the same dimensions), while the measurement range was reduced from a factor of 2 to 3 (from 594 kPa for a bulk PDMS sensor down to between 255 and 177 kPa for a PDMS foam sensor of the same dimensions, according to the porosity). This study opens the way to the design and fabrication of wearable flexible pressure sensors with adjustable performances through the control of the porosity of the fabricated PDMS foams.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (52) ◽  
pp. 58403-58411
Author(s):  
Young-Ryul Kim ◽  
Minsoo P. Kim ◽  
Jonghwa Park ◽  
Youngoh Lee ◽  
Sujoy Kumar Ghosh ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (27) ◽  
pp. 5436-5441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan-Long Tai ◽  
Zhen-Guo Yang

Flexible pressure sensors are essential components of an electronic skin for future attractive applications ranging from human healthcare monitoring to biomedical diagnostics to robotic skins to prosthetic limbs.


Author(s):  
Qiong Tian ◽  
Wenrong Yan ◽  
Tianding CHEN ◽  
Derek Ho

Pressure sensing electronics have gained great attention in human-machine interface, soft robotics, and wearable biomedical applications. However, existing sensor architectures are inadequate in overcoming the classic tradeoff between sensing range,...


Author(s):  
Xiyao Fu ◽  
Depeng Wang ◽  
Lili Wang ◽  
Hao Xu ◽  
Valerii Shulga ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 699 ◽  
pp. 824-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Quan ◽  
Xiongbang Wei ◽  
Lun Xiao ◽  
Tao Wu ◽  
Hanying Pang ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danning Fu ◽  
Ruibin Wang ◽  
Rendang Yang

Abstract Cellulose-based composites with superior mechanical and electrical properties are highly desirable for a sustainable and multifunctional substrate of flexible electronics. However, their practical application is hindered by the lack of superflexible cellulose-based composites to fabricate ingenious flexible electronics with considerable robustness. Here, cellulose derived from underutilized biomass (Edgewo-rthia chrysantha Lindi, ERCL) was composited with highly-conductive silver nanowires (AgNWs) through a general papermaking process. Benefiting from the interactions between cellulose and AgNWs including hydrogen bonding and van der Waals force, the composite presented superb electrical conductivity (> 27000 S/m) and flexibility (folding times ≥1110). By employing it as the substrate of flexible pressure sensors (FPSs) through layer-by-layer assembly, improved sensitivity (Gauge Factor=846.4), rapid response (0.44 s), and excellent stability (≥2000 folding cycles) were demonstrated. Impressively, the novel FPS could monitor human motions, including finger bending, elbow flexion, speaking, and pulse, suggesting its great potentials in emerging flexible electronics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-54
Author(s):  
Somashekhar Marutirao Nimbalkar ◽  
Binoy Viresh Shah ◽  
Amee Atulkumar Amin ◽  
Vishwa Tushar Patel ◽  
Ajay Gajanan Phatak

AimTo compare positive pressure ventilation efficacy of a novel foot operated resuscitator (FOR) during positive pressure ventilation with that of self-inflating bag and mask (SIBM) using a manikin model.MethodA comparative trial was conducted with 117 participants at a level III neonatal intensive care unit using Baby Anne (Laerdal Medical, Norway). Flow and pressure sensors were used to measure tidal volume propelled (Vp) and delivered (Vt). Each participant delivered 60 breaths, using each device targeting adequate chest-rise defined as that corresponding to a Vt of 15–21 mL. Vt, Peak Inspiratory Pressure (PIP), Leak Percentage (%), Inspiratory Time (Ti, millisecond) and other parameters were recorded using a PC (Dell, Windows V.10) on a custom application (LabView 2014 platform NI, USA). The proportion of breaths achieving target range Vt, other key ventilation parameters and their variability were compared between a generic CE approved bag and mask and a novel FOR (NeoBreathe, Phoenix Medical Systems, India).ResultUsing an SIBM, participants delivered a mean (SD) Vt of 17.52 (5.22) mL, achieving target range Vt in 46.99% of all breaths, with a mean (SD) face-mask leak per cent of 32.51% (22.25). Using the FOR, participants delivered a mean (SD) Vt of 18.31 (3.90), achieving target range Vt in 54.37% of all breaths and a mean (SD) face-mask leak per cent of 18.89% (14.45). Variability of Vt, PIP and leak per cent was significantly reduced with FOR.ConclusionFOR significantly reduced face-mask leak, significantly increased the proportion of breaths achieving Vt within optimal range and could offer a novel alternative to a SIBM.


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