The Medical Design Excellence Award in the OTC category this year went to Swing™ breast pump, manufactured by Medela Inc., from McHenry, Illinois. From the award’s announcement:
Swing is a compact, lightweight, and portable personal-use breast pump for expressing breast milk. Operable with AC or battery power, it employs a two-phase expression technology to produce more milk in less time. Supply and design credit to Milani Design & Consulting SA (Erlenbach, Switzerland).
Company’s proprietary 2-Phase Expression® technology is explained:
2-Phase Expression is based on an in-depth study by leading lactation researcher, Dr. Peter Hartmann, Ph.D. Hartmann’s research showed that a breastfeeding baby has a characteristic sucking pattern that begins with rapid, high frequency sucking and changes abruptly to a slower suck/swallow pattern at the time of milk ejection. Hartmann’s research also demonstrated that a breastpump using two-phase cycling, which most closely resembles a baby’s nursing rhythm, is more effective in breast milk removal than single-cycling breastpumps.
Initially developed for hospital breastpumps, 2-Phase Expression uses two pumping patterns to mimic a baby’s nursing rhythm more effectively than ever before. During the “Let-Down” mode, the pump mimics a breastfeeding baby’s initial rapid nursing action that stimulates the milk ejection reflex (MER) or “let-down” and quickly begins milk flow. Once milk begins to flow, moms switch to the second mode, called “Expression” which mimics the infant’s longer feeding cycle in which slower, deeper suckling helps to maximize milk flow.
Makes sense even to us! (We drink beer very similarly. We call it “beer ejection reflex.”)
The company’s website and 2-Phase Expression® technology page…
The pump is available here…
Medical Design Excellence Award winners