Breast pumps allow for increased milk volume flow rates and/or increased pump efficiency. Various devices and techniques are used to introduce a more diverse set of vibration patterns which enable users to customize the performance of the vibration and/or enable vibrations to be present or absent in ways not currently enabled by the state of the art. This can involve applying vibrations to the breast during the breast pump cycle (or waveform), to increase the volume flow rate of expressed milk for a given cycle speed and suction level.

Systems and methods for assessing milk volume changes within a breast are described. Also described are systems and methods for assessing volume changes in the stomach of an infant.

A breast milk expression apparatus includes at least one compression pad disposable about a breast of a user and configured for radial displacement relative to the breast. The apparatus includes a compression unit coupled to the at least one pad, configured to cyclically displace the at least one pad radially inwardly to cause compression of the breast and, following compression of the breast, permitting the breast to expand and decompress.

A breast pump and method of manufacturing the breast pump are described. The breast pump includes a pair of pads configured to be applied to human breasts of a user, each of the pads containing sensors and actuators, a pressure generator configured to provide vacuum within a first predetermined range and compression within a second predetermined range to operate the actuators in each pad, a temperature control system, and an artificial intelligence (AI) control system configured to control, based on feedback from the sensors, the pressure generator to mimic intra-oral motion of an infant and the temperature control system.

An improved breast pump flange assembly, flexible membrane and method of use are disclosed. In some embodiments, the breast pump flange assembly includes a flanged housing having an interior chamber extending therethrough. The flanged housing including an upper receiving portion having a first diameter, a substantially tubular middle portion having a second diameter, and a substantially tubular lower connecting portion having a third diameter. In some embodiments, the breast pump flange assembly further includes a flexible membrane having an opening extending therethrough. The flexible membrane having one or more support pad positioned at least partially around the opening of the tubular middle portion of the flanged housing. The support pad configured to simulate the sensation of a baby's mouth on a breast, causing the breast to be massaged by intermittent suction action produced by a breast pump.

A breastpump for expressing human breastmilk includes a multipart hygiene module having a first part with a flow opening for connecting to a interior, a valve body with at least one valve and a second part with a rigid cup for forming a pump chamber. The valve body is arranged between the first and second part and the hygiene module as a whole is connectable to the housing of the breastpump in a sealing and detachable manner.

A breast pump system has first and second kits, and they have different sets of functional units. However, they have shape features which are designed to provide similar appearance in use, to make the use of the breast pump system more discrete.

The present invention relates to a breast status determination device (10). The breast status determination device (10) comprises a breast shield (16), a nipple elongation measurement unit (17), and a breast status determination unit (20). The breast shield (16) can receive abreast (12) of a user (14) therein. The nipple elongation measurement unit (17) can measure an elongation of a nipple of the breast (12) received in the breast shield (16) for a specific pressure in the breast shield (16) during a milk extraction session. The breast status determination unit (20) can determine a status of the breast (12) based on the elongation of the nipple (26). The breast status determination device (10) can allow estimating of milk left in the breast during the milk extraction session, when the breast (12) is empty, and whether a milk ejection reflex is present or absent in the breast (12).

Systems and methods for pumping milk from a breast, wherein the milk is expressed from the breast under suction and milk is expulsed from the pumping mechanism to a collection container under positive pressure.

The present invention provides a breastshield for use in a breastpumping system for expressing milk, the breastshield being of such a construction that substantially limits the amount of air between the breast/nipple and the breastshield surrounding the breast/nipple, and most preferably virtually eliminates any air at least in the area of the breast and nipple. In some embodiments, any air in the breastpumping system is substantially eliminated. With the amount of air limited, the mechanism used for generating the pressure difference in the breastshield (e.g., vacuum or negative pressure), such as a diaphragm pump, does not need to do as much work. Less energy is required for the expression of milk, and thus the size of pump used can be decreased, thereby reducing the overall cost of the device.