A breast pump
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips N.V.
InventorsYANNYK PARULIAN JULIAN BOURQUIN, BABU VARGHESE, JONATHAN ALAMBRA PALERO, MARCO BARAGONA
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Abstract
A breast pump comprises a breast shield, a stimulator for applying a negative stimulus to promote milk expression, a light source for illuminating the nipple and/or a portion of the breast, and a controller for synchronizing the timing of operation of the light source and the stimulator. The stimulation of blood flow using light has been found to promote milk extraction. In particular, the control of the light source prevents deterioration of the milk quality caused by the illumination.
Claims15
A breast pump, comprising:
- a breast shield for fitting over at least the nipple of a breast thereby to create a cavity over at least the nipple;
- a stimulator for applying a stimulus to promote milk expression;
- a light source for illuminating the nipple and/or a portion of the breast for enhancing milk expression and/or providing photo therapy treatment;
- and
- a controller configured to synchronize the timing of illumination of the nipple and/or portion of the breast by the light source with the stimulus applied by the stimulator.
A method of operating a breast pump for the non-therapeutic expression of milk, comprising:
- controlling a light source to illuminate the nipple and/or a portion of the breast for stimulating blood flow in the breast;
- and
- controlling a stimulator to apply a stimulus to promote milk expression,
- wherein the method comprises synchronizing the timing of illumination of the nipple and/or portion of the breast by the light source with the stimulus applied by the stimulator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.