Customizable Breast Pump by tmackay

Last crawled date: 4 years ago

This is the early stages of an idea. The general idea is to apply techniques used in the dairy industry for going on the past century to the lacklustre human equivalents available today. Motivated by my wife's present frustrations with the technology and my own frustrations with the profiteering in the local maternity market.
It is not too disimilar to current products available. The addition of a one-way valve on the end of the collection tube, using the vacuum inlet on the shield side, leaving the other open as a vent and it would function the same.
Rather than simply applying a pulsating vacuum to a rigid cup, which will tend to engorge tissue and cause discomfort over time, the goal is to apply a more natural alternating mechanical compression and suction. In a contemporary milking machine, this is achieved by the use of a flexible teat cup liner and two sources of vacuum, one constant and the other pulsating.
Another notable advantage of a printable design is the possibility of customization. I suspect many problems experienced would reduce to a poor fitting device. There is also a myriad of bottle thread sizes even from the same brand. Most parameters affecting the size and shape are now customizable.