While breastfeeding has several benefits, it is difficult to know how much milk a baby is consuming, leading parents to question if their baby is getting the proper amount of nourishment. An interdisciplinary team that included researchers from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has developed a new wearable device that provides clinical-grade, continuous monitoring of breast milk intake.
The device consists of two thin, soft, pliable cords that wrap around the breast during breastfeeding, and electrodes at both ends of the cords separated by a small, lightweight “base station” that adhere to the skin. The base station holds Bluetooth technology for wireless data transfer, a rechargeable battery, and a memory chip. As the baby breastfeeds, the device wirelessly transmits data to a tablet or smartphone, allowing parents to view a real-time graphical display of how much milk their baby has consumed.
According to the researchers, the wearable device—which is still in the development phase—has potential to offer reassurance to breastfeeding mothers in the neonatal intensive care unit, where babies have more precise feeding and nutritional needs. The data generated by the wearable device could help guide clinical decisions around feeding and nutrition when caring for these infants.
At this stage, the device has undergone theoretical modeling, lab testing, and trials with new mothers in hospital settings. Ongoing research is in progress to further enhance sensor function and accuracy. Further product development and regulatory clearance are planned to ultimately make the device commercially available for routine use.
The research team published its findings in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. The co-leaders of the study were Daniel Robinson, MD, Attending Physician, Neonatology, at Lurie Children’s and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Craig Garfield, MD, Attending Physician, Hospital-Based Medicine, at Lurie Children’s and Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Social Sciences at Feinberg School of Medicine; John A. Rogers, PhD, Director of the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics and Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery at Feinberg School of Medicine; and Jennifer Wicks, MD, Attending Physician, Hospital-Based Medicine, at Lurie Children’s and Instructor in Pediatrics at Feinberg School of Medicine. Other collaborators on the study are from Rice University and several universities in Korea.
Dr. Robinson is the Founders’ Board Neonatology Young Research Scholar at Lurie Children’s.
Pediatric research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute. Innovate2Impact aims to support medical research and new ideas at Lurie Children’s and Manne Research Institute in their progress toward scalable impact and commercialization. If you are interested in innovation, want to know more about the innovation process, or learn how your ideas can be scaled to have significant impact on health, visit the Innovate2Impact page.
