breast-infant interaction

Bio-Inspired Breastfeeding Simulator (BIBS): A Tool for Studying the Infant Feeding Mechanism

Author(s)3: Lin Jiang, Fatemeh Hassanipour
Bio-Inspired Breastfeeding Simulator (BIBS): A Tool for Studying the Infant Feeding Mechanism 280 291 IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (TBME)
An experimental apparatus is developed for a better understanding of breastfeeding anomalies. This bio-inspired breastfeeding simulator (BIBS) mimics the infant’s complex suckling actions, including motions of the palate, tongue, and jaw, as well as sucking and vacuum pressure applied by the infant. BIBS includes a model of human breast, with a liquid mimicking the flow properties of milk, allowing external observations of flow. The design and construction of BIBS follows CT scanned images of the infants’ oral cavities and clinical measurements and observations. This novel apparatus is the first to successfully mimic the compression and vacuum pressures exerted by infants. read more