Infant Feeding Cup With Flow Reducer for Safer Preterm Oral Feeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current alternative feeding devices for newborns, such as those requiring gastric probes, lack standardization in safety and effectiveness, leading to issues like liquid loss, choking risks, anatomical incompatibility, and contamination, which can result in prolonged use of feeding tubes and potential trauma to the baby's mouth tissues.
Innovation Solution
A device featuring a transparent, anti-allergic, non-toxic, and odorless plastic cup with a conical form and a rounded spout, designed to match the newborn's mouth anatomy, equipped with a graded scale and a flow reducer to facilitate safe and comfortable feeding, reducing the need for gastric probes and promoting breast feeding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional feeding devices are used, then feeding can be provided to newborns, but the devices lack standardization leading to safety issues and anatomical incompatibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by establishing standardized dimensional parameters for the feeding device. The external rim radius is specifically designed to match the anatomical parameters of premature newborn mouths, and the spout dimensions are standardized to ensure compatibility and safety. This standardization resolves the contradiction by providing reliable, safe feeding devices with consistent anatomical compatibility.
2Ease of operation
If feeding devices with standard spouts are used, then feeding can be provided, but they may cause trauma to the baby's mouth tissues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by designing the spout with specific local characteristics: a rounded tip geometry and controlled dimensions that are softer and more compatible with delicate newborn oral tissues. The external rim has a standardized radius that distributes pressure evenly, preventing localized trauma. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining feeding capability while eliminating tissue trauma through localized design optimizations.
3Measurement precision
If transparent cup with conical form is used, then volume monitoring is improved, but liquid loss and choking risks occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a flow reducer as an intermediary component between the liquid reservoir and the baby's mouth. This mediator controls and regulates the liquid flow rate, preventing sudden gushes that could cause choking while still allowing the transparent conical cup to display volume measurements. The flow reducer thus resolves the contradiction by enabling safe, controlled feeding while preserving volume monitoring capability.
4Duration of action of moving object
If gastric probes are used for prolonged periods, then feeding can be maintained, but side effects and complications increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables self-service oral feeding by designing a device that allows premature newborns to feed themselves using their own oral reflexes and sucking abilities. This eliminates the need for prolonged gastric probe dependence, as the device adapts to the baby's developing oral skills. The standardized design promotes oral motor development, allowing babies to transition from probe feeding to oral feeding more quickly, thus resolving the contradiction by reducing both duration and complications.
Data Source
AI summary
A device particularly suitable for feeding premature newborns consists of a cup with a raised colored graded scale placed on the cup side for easy visualization, a flow reducer composed of folds, a round spout formed from the cup rim facilitating contact with the mouth of the baby, and a lid of the cup rim which fits using pressure to avoid food contamination.