A new ecological method for the estimation of Nutritive Sucking Efficiency in newborns: Measurement principle and experimental assessment

Abstract

The Sucking Efficiency (SEF) is one of the main parameters used to monitor and assess the sucking pattern development in infants. Since Nutritive Sucking (NS) is one of the earliest motor activity performed by infants, its objective monitoring may allow to assess neurological and motor development of newborns. This work proposes a new ecological and low-cost method for SEF monitoring, specifically designed for feeding bottles. The methodology, based on the measure of the hydrostatic pressure exerted by the liquid at the teat base, is presented and experimentally validated at different operative conditions. Results show how the proposed method allows to estimate the minimum volume an infant ingests during a burst of sucks with a relative error within the range of [3-7]% depending on the inclination of the liquid reservoir

Technological Solutions and Main Indices for the Assessment of Newborns’ Nutritive Sucking: A Review

“…While the vacuum problem can be easily avoided using a commercial vented bottle, as in [ 37 ] ( Figure 4 ) or in [ 23 ], the hydrostatic pressure might also represent an important parameter to record in the case of daily home monitoring of sucking behavior, when the infant has to face this factor while bottle-feeding. Some described apparatus [ 51 , 56 ] can be adoptable for such application: they report sensing solutions based on PTs measuring the pressure at the base of the nutrient column. Moreover, these factors suggest that another important aspect in the design of a standardized feeding assessment tool, is its shape [ 65 ], as it can determine the extent of the influence of hydrostatic pressure on feeding (see Figure 4 ).…”

“…To this aim, the use of air-flow sensors (thermistors or pneumotachometers) mounted on the top of the inverted nutrient reservoir, may represent a practicable sensing solution to be further investigated to increase the level of integration and develop a portable feeding tool (it also implies the resolution of the vacuum build-up problem). The solutions using PTs to measure nutrient consumption may also be easily adopted at home for a remote continuous monitoring of infant's development, but further research is suggested for their validation in field [ 23 , 56 ]. The same portability can be obtained adopting an ultrasonic flow sensor, as in [ 55 ], but it represents an expensive solution.…”

“…Many authors do not even mention this measure, despite reporting consideration about the total ingested nutrient volume [ 25 , 40 , 41 ]. Measurements of the nutrient consumption at very close intervals of time have also been adopted [ 23 , 50 , 56 ]. The volume of delivered milk can be estimated measuring the changes of the air pressure inside a closed bottle (vacuum built-up) by means of a PT, while the liquid flows out, as reported in [ 23 ].…”

“…The volume of delivered milk can be estimated measuring the changes of the air pressure inside a closed bottle (vacuum built-up) by means of a PT, while the liquid flows out, as reported in [ 23 ]. A PT can be also used to measure the hydrostatic pressure of the remaining liquid column in a cylindrical reservoir in order to estimate the residual volume of liquid, as presented in [ 56 ]. In this work, the PT was connected to an air-filled catheter ending at the base of an inverted bottle where the liquid column laid.…”

Ecological Sucking Monitoring of Newborns

“…Volume estimation is based on measurement of the air pressure inside the feeding bottle. Moreover, volume estimations are independent from the tilt of the bottle with respect to gravity, so that it is not needed any orientation monitoring, or keeping the bottle at a specific angle to obtain good volume estimations, as done by [41]. Since the use of our new device does not modify how bottle feeding is commonly done (e.g.…”