BREASTMILK EXPRESSION SYSTEM WITH DETECTION, FEEDBACK AND CONNECTABILITY FEATURES

• US 20160287767A1
• Filed: 04/05/2016
• Published: 10/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medela Holding AG (Olle Larsson Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Medela Holding AG (Olle Larsson Holding AG)
• Inventors: Skach, John R., Simmons, Bryan D., Bauer, Ryan, Gilbert, Deanna, Cho, David
• Granted Patent: US 10,052,418 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/06 Milking pumps
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/062 Pump accessories
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/06935 imitating the suckling of an infant
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/0697 having means for massaging the breast
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/74 Suction control underwater drainage A61M1/61
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 1/81 Piston pumps, e.g. syringes
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/15 Detection of leaks
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/18 with alarm
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/332 Force measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3331 Pressure; Flow
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3334 Measuring or controlling the flow rate
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3379 Masses, volumes, levels of fluids in reservoirs, flow rates
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3553 remote, e.g. between patient's home and doctor's office
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3561 local, e.g. within room or hospital
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3576 with non implanted data transmission devices, e.g. using external transmitter or receiver
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/502 User interfaces, e.g. screens or keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/702 automatically during use

Abstract

Methods and systems for an improved feedback milk extraction system are described. According to aspects, the system may communicate with various electronic devices and/or server components to exchange data and perform certain functionalities. The functionalities may include providing visual and audio feedback to a user, supporting unique kit identification as well as associated user profiles and preferred configuration settings, detecting and responding to leaks having various sizes during operation of the breastpump, controlling operation of the breastpump in response to detected leaks and the detected type and/or magnitude of the leak, preemptively contacting customers if a fault condition is detected or imminent, enabling effective labeling of collection containers, and determining volume and flow of expressed breastmilk.

Claims

1. A breastmilk extracting system, comprising:

a pressure measurement component configured to obtain a pressure level in the system during operation of the system;

a comparison circuit configured to,

on a substantially continuous basis, compare at least one of a displacement measurement and motor current data to the pressure level to obtain a comparison result,

determine that there is a leak in the system when the comparison result at least meets a threshold value, and

estimate a magnitude of the leak; and

at least one feedback component configured to indicate to a user the existence of the leak in the system.

2. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 1, wherein to estimate the magnitude of the leak, the comparison circuit is configured to:

calculate a rate at which fluid enters the system, and

compare the rate to a measured state variable.

3. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 1, wherein the comparison circuit is further configured to:

compare the pressure level to an expected pressure level, and

based on the comparison, estimate a fluid flow volume in the system.

4. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 1, wherein when the comparison result at least meets the threshold value, the comparison circuit is further configured to:

determine, based on the comparison result, at least one action to take to address the leak in the system, and

perform the at least one action.

5. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 1, wherein to obtain the pressure level in the system during operation of the system, the pressure measurement component is configured to:

obtain, at a first point in time, a first pressure level, and

obtain, at a second point in time, a second pressure level;

and wherein to compare the at least one of the displacement measurement and the motor current data to the pressure level, the comparison circuit is configured to compare the at least one of the displacement measurement and the motor current data to the first pressure level and the second pressure level to obtain the comparison result.

6. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 1, further comprising:

a milk flow loop configured to calculate a milk flow volume estimate by comparing the pressure level to an expected pressure level; and

an output module configured to generate milk output data indicating at least one of milk flow, milk volume, and milk ejection reflex (MER), based on the milk flow volume estimate.

7. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 1, further comprising:

a transceiver configured to receive, from an electronic device, a set of user configuration settings; and

a hardware controller interfaced with at least the transceiver, and configured to,

determine, from the set of user configuration settings, a set of operation settings for the system, and

configure the system according to the set of operation settings.

8. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 7, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive, from the electronic device, sensor data associated with a set of sensors of the electronic device;

and wherein the hardware controller further determines the set of operation settings for the system from the sensor data.

9. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 1, wherein the pressure measurement component is an absolute pressure sensor.

10. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 1, wherein the pressure measurement component is at least two pressure sensors.

11. A method for operating a breastmilk extracting system comprising:

obtaining, by a pressure measurement component, a pressure level in the system during operation of the system;

on a continuous basis, comparing at least one of a displacement measurement and motor current data to the pressure level to obtain a comparison result;

when the comparison result at least meets a threshold value,

determining that there is a leak in the system, and

estimating a magnitude of the leak; and

indicating, to a user by at least one feedback component, the existence of the leak in the system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein estimating the magnitude of the leak comprises:

calculating a rate at which fluid enters the system, and

comparing the rate to a measured state variable.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

comparing the pressure level to an expected pressure level; and

based on the comparing, estimating a fluid flow volume in the system.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising, when the comparison result at least meets the threshold value:

determining, based on the comparison result, at least one action to take to address the leak in the system, and

performing the at least one action.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining the pressure level in the system during operation of the system comprises:

obtaining, at a first point in time, a first pressure level; and

obtaining, at a second point in time, a second pressure level;

and wherein comparing the at least one of the displacement measurement and the motor current data to the pressure level comprises;

comparing the at least one of the displacement measurement and the motor current data to the first pressure level and the second pressure level to obtain the comparison result.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

calculating a milk flow volume estimate by comparing the pressure level to an expected pressure level; and

generating milk output data indicating at least one of milk flow, milk volume, and milk ejection reflex (MER), based on the milk flow volume estimate.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, from an electronic device via a transceiver, a set of user configuration settings;

determining, from the set of user configuration settings, a set of operation settings for the system; and

configuring the system according to the set of operation settings.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein obtaining the pressure level in the system during operation of the system comprises:

obtaining, by one of an absolute pressure sensor or at least two pressure sensors, the pressure level in the system during operation of the system.

19. A method of detecting leaks within a breastmilk extracting system, comprising:

determining, by a processor at a first point in time, (i) a first absolute pressure within the system and (ii) an initial displaced volume;

determining, by the processor at a second point in time, (i) a second absolute pressure within the extracting system and (ii) a second displaced volume;

determining an original volume of the system;

estimating a leaked volume of the system;

comparing a difference between the original volume and the leaked volume to a threshold value to determine if there is a leak in the system and to produce a resulting comparison where the leak is present;

based on the comparing, determining an action to take to address the leak, where the action differs for leaks of different sizes; and

performing the action.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein determining the initial displaced volume comprises:

determining, at the first point in time, a first position of a volume displacement mechanism within the system;

and wherein determining the second displaced volume comprises;

determining, at the second point in time, a second position of the volume displacement mechanism within the system.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein determining the first absolute pressure comprises:

detecting a measure of at least one of;

a force in a volume displacement component of the system, a temperature drop, and a motor armature current; and

calculating the initial displaced volume based on the measure.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein comparing the difference between the original volume and the leaked volume to the threshold value comprises:

determining that the difference exceeds the threshold value; and

wherein determining the action to take to address the leak comprises;

determining to pause operation of the system.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein performing the action comprises:

pausing operation of the system; and

displaying, in a user interface, a visual alert indicating the leak in the system.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein comparing the difference between the original volume and the leaked volume to the threshold value comprises:

determining that the difference does not exceed the threshold value; and

wherein determining the action to take to address the leak comprises;

determining to increase a current applied to the system.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein performing the action comprises:

prompting, via a user interface of the system, a selection to continue operation of the system; and

responding to the selection received from the user interface.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein performing the action comprises:

displaying, via a user interface of the system, an indication of the leak in the system;

waiting a threshold amount of time; and

ceasing operation of the system if a selection is not detected within the threshold amount of time.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

importing a user profile including system operating data associated with the user profile; and

adjusting the threshold value based on the user profile.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein comparing the difference between the original volume and the leaked volume to the threshold value comprises:

comparing the difference between the original volume and the leaked volume to the adjusted threshold value to determine that there is the leak in the system.

29. A breastmilk extracting system comprising:

a leak detection system connectable to a controller, the leak detection system configured to determine a leak arising during a cycle in the system during delivery of the cycle of a pumping pattern using a leak volume calculation.

30. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 29, wherein the pumping pattern is further defined by a pumping test pattern having an interval of no increase or decrease of vacuum level from which the leak can be determined.

31. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 30, wherein the pumping test pattern runs for one cycle.

32. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 29, further comprising:

a response circuit for determining a response path based on a magnitude of the leak.

33. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 32, wherein the response circuit is configured to selectively include data input received that is relevant to the leak in the system.

34. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 32, wherein the response circuit is configured to enable feedback regarding the magnitude of the leak.

35. A breastmilk extracting system comprising:

a leak detection circuit configured to determine a leak; and

a response circuit connectable to the leak detection circuit, the response circuit selectively providing feedback from the leak detection circuit during a pumping session while selectively enabling continued use of the system and corrective operation based on a magnitude of the leak detected by the leak detection circuit.

36. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 35, wherein the response circuit is configured to disable continued use of the system if the magnitude of the leak is above a threshold level, and if the leak is not reduced below the threshold level during a holding period.

37. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 36, wherein the response circuit is configured to deliver the feedback as a feedback signal indicating the magnitude of the leak if the magnitude of the leak is below the threshold level.

38. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 37, wherein at least one of the feedback signal and a device configuration signal is transmitted from the system to at least one of an electronic device and a server associated with the system.

39. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 37, wherein the feedback signal includes an audio signal.

40. The breastmilk extracting system of claim 37, wherein the feedback signal includes an error message and color coded backlighting.