The Correlation between Tongue-Nipple Contact Force and Breast Milk Amount during Infant Sucking

Le résumé fourni par la source

The objective of this study is to measure the contact force between an infant tongue and an artificial nipple and examine whether it is possible to estimate the amount of breast milk intake using several parameters calculated from the force measurements. We installed force sensors at the tip and root of an artificial nipple and developed a system for measuring the contact force between an infant tongue and the artificial nipple. The system measures the force of the tongue simply by inserting the nipple in the oral cavity of the infant and outputs time-historical waveforms. In the force measurements, waveforms of mutually different phases are output from the two sensors, and the peristaltic-like movement of the tongue is successfully monitored. Parameters from the force measurements correlating to the amount of breast milk intake were the maximum force and the sucking interval. These findings suggest it may be possible to estimate the amount of breast milk intake just by measuring the tongue force of the infant.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.