Abstract:
A system and method for tracking breast milk in a neonatal facility using optically-scannable identifiers. The optically-scannable identifiers are affixed to containers and measuring devices containing breast milk. The identifiers are used in the association of the containers and measuring devices with an infant.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION DATA 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/148,552 filed Jan. 30, 2009, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates generally to a system for tracking breast milk, and more particularly to a system for tracking breast milk in a neonatal intensive care setting. 
     BACKGROUND 
     An infant that is born in a hospital setting typically leaves the hospital after a short stay in a maternity ward. However, if the infant is born prematurely or with health difficulties, the infant may need to be kept in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for an extended amount of time. In such a situation, the mother is often unable to breast feed the infant herself because of the need to carefully monitor the amount of milk that is fed to the infant. 
     Traditionally, an infant kept in the NICU is fed using breast milk that has been provided by the mother to the NICU. More particularly, the mother expresses breast milk into a container and provides the container to the NICU. A nurse within the NICU subsequently carries the container to the child, fills a measuring device with a measured amount of the breast milk from the container, and attaches the measuring device to the child&#39;s feeding tube. 
     However, this system is purely visual and prone to error in an environment of high activity and stress, such as a NICU. A typical NICU includes multiple infants, and is characterized by the continuous ingress and egress of nurses, technicians, doctors, and mothers. In this environment it is easy for a nurse to inadvertently feed the breast milk to the wrong child. 
     Systems have been proposed to assist in the monitoring the temperature of expressed breast milk. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0087726 describes a system that utilizes radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in conjunction with a neonatal substrate warming and cooling unit to monitor the temperature of breast milk from the time the breast milk is received by the NICU until it is fed to the infant. The temperature monitoring provided by this system utilizes the RFID tags that can be read when the container is located within a warming oven or refrigeration unit. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a system for utilizing optically-scannable identifiers to track breast milk in a NICU. The system associates an infant with a container and measuring device containing the mother&#39;s breast milk, which enables the allocation of the mother&#39;s breast milk from a container into one or more associated measuring devices in an environment that is removed from the NICU. The present invention reduces the demand on a nurse in the NICU, thereby increasing the likelihood that the infant will receive a correct amount of breast milk from the correct mother, while minimizing the infant&#39;s risk of infection or similar adverse effects that could result as a consequence of incorrect feeding. 
     The present invention provides a method for tracking breast milk in a neonatal facility using optically-scannable identifiers that includes optically scanning an identifier affixed to a container containing breast milk, optically scanning an identifier affixed to a measuring device that contains a measured amount of the breast milk from the container, associating the identifier of the container with the identifier of the measuring device, and associating the identifier of the measuring device to an infant. 
     Either the identifier of the container or the identifier of the measuring device may be a barcode printed on a label. 
     The method may further include fortifying the breast milk contained in either the container or the measuring device, and associating either the identifier of the container or the identifier of the measuring device with an indicator that the breast milk has been fortified. 
     The method may further include associating either the identifier of the container or the identifier of the measuring device with a mother. 
     The method may further include associating either the identifier of the container or the identifier of the measuring device with a time stamp that represents an age of the breast milk. 
     The method may further include associating either the identifier of the container or the identifier of the measuring device with a respective inventory of containers or measuring devices. 
     The method may further include associating the infant to a feeding schedule. The feeding schedule may associate the measuring device from among a plurality of measuring devices to a specific feeding time. 
     Either the identifier of the container or the identifier of the measuring device may be unique with respect to other containers and measuring devices. Alternatively or additionally, either the identifier of the container or the identifier of the measuring device may be the same as one or more additional containers or measuring devices. 
     The present invention also provides a method of determining whether breast milk contained within a measuring device may be fed to an infant using an optically-scannable identifier that includes identifying the infant, optically scanning an identifier affixed to the measuring device that contains a measured amount of the breast milk, determining whether the identifier is associated with the infant, and indicating the determination. 
     The identifier of the measuring device may be a barcode printed on a label. 
     The method may further include determining whether the breast milk has been fortified. 
     The method may further include determining an age of the breast milk. 
     The method may further include determining whether the identifier is associated to a feeding schedule. 
     The identifier of the measuring device may be unique with respect to other containers and measuring devices. Alternatively, the identifier of the measuring device may be the same as one or more additional measuring devices. 
     The infant may be fed if the indicated determination is that the measuring device is associated with the infant. The method may further include generating a time stamp as a record of feeding the infant. 
     Moreover, the present invention provides a system for tracking breast milk in a neonatal facility using optically-scannable identifiers that includes an optical scanner that scans an identifier affixed to a container containing breast milk and an identifier affixed to a measuring device that contains a measured amount of the breast milk from the container, a database, and a computer program stored on a computer readable medium of the computer system for performing the steps of writing identification information of the optically-scanned identifiers to the database, associating the identifier of the container with the identifier of the measuring device, and associating the identifier of the measuring device to an infant. 
     The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of an exemplary tracking system for tracking the path of breast milk in a NICU in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary group of syringes having individual identifiers in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary group of syringes having subgroup identifiers in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system having a database stored thereon for associating an infant, the infant&#39;s mother, a bottle of breast milk, a syringe of breast milk, and a feeding schedule in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of an exemplary database in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of an exemplary network for implementing the tracking system in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary feeding procedure in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary feeding procedure in accordance with the invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
     In the description that follows, like components have been given the same reference numerals, regardless of whether they are shown in different embodiments. To illustrate an embodiment(s) of the present invention in a clear and concise manner, the drawings may not necessarily be to scale and certain features may be shown in somewhat schematic form. Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments. 
     Referring now in detail to the drawings and initially to  FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of an exemplary tracking system for tracking the path of breast milk in a NICU in accordance with the invention is shown generally at  10 . The tracking system  10  utilizes optically-scannable identifiers such as barcodes  16  and  26 , and will herein be described as such. However, it will be appreciated that any suitable optically-scannable identifier may be used in place of barcodes  16  and  26 . 
     In the exemplary tracking system  10 , a mother  12  expresses her breast milk into a container, such as a bottle  14 . The bottle may have a barcode  16  affixed thereto that represents identification information  18  of the bottle  14 . For illustrative purposes, the barcode  18  represents ABC. 
     The barcode  16  is used to associate the bottle  14  with the mother  12  and the mother&#39;s infant  30 . In one embodiment, this association may be in place at a time prior to the mother  12  filling the bottle  14 . A label  32  may have been previously applied to the bottle  14  that includes the associating barcode  16  and any other written information that pertains to the mother  12  and infant  30 . Alternatively, an associated barcode  16  may be pre-printed on the bottle  14 . Of course, the association between the bottle  14 , mother  12 , and infant  30  may be made at a time after the mother  12  fills the bottle  14 . As described above, either a label  32  including a barcode  16  or a pre-printed barcode  16  on the bottle  14  may be used to make the association after filling. In such a situation, the label  32  is applied to the bottle  14  after the mother  12  fills it with breast milk and may include additional information such as the date and time that the bottle  14  was filled. 
     A computer system  20  associates the barcode  16  of the bottle  14  with the infant  30  and the mother  12 . Specifically, the computer system  20  may associate the identification information  18  of the barcode  16  with the identity of the infant  30  and the mother  12 , and record the information and the association to a database  22  (described in further detail below in relation to  FIGS. 4-6 ). 
     A measuring device such as a syringe  24  is used to measure a given amount of breast milk from the bottle  14  for feeding the infant  24 . The transfer of the breast milk from the bottle  14  to the syringe  24  allows for a desired amount of breast milk  10  to be accurately measured for feeding the infant  30 . The syringe may subsequently be coupled to the infant&#39;s feeding tube (not shown). Of course, if desired, the bottle  14  may instead be used to feed the infant  30 . 
     The syringe  24  may also include a barcode  26  that represents identification information  28  of the syringe  24 . For illustrative purposes, the barcode  28  represents  123 . While the barcode  26  of a syringe  24  may represent identification information  28  that is different from the barcode  16  of the bottle  14 , the barcode  26  may be applied in the same manner as barcode  16  (e.g., via a label  34  or pre-printed application). The computer system  20  may also associate the barcode  26  to the infant  30  and the mother  12  in the same manner that the barcode  16  is associated. In addition, the computer system  20  may associate the syringe  24  with the bottle  14  via their respective barcodes  16 ,  26  and identification information  18  and  28 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 2 , a syringe  24  may be selected from among a group of syringes  36 . Each syringe  24  may include or be given a barcode  24  that represents unique identification information  28 . This allows, for example, for a particular syringe  24  to be to be associated to an infant  30 , mother  12 , and bottle  14 . Alternatively, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , a subgroup  38  of syringes  24  may include barcodes  26  that represent common identification information  28 . This allows, for example, for a plurality of syringes  24  to be identified as being filled from a particular bottle  14 . 
     The same principles discussed in relation to  FIGS. 2 and 3  may be applied to the bottles  14 . For example, a particular bottle  14  may be associated to an infant  30 , mother  12 , and syringe  24 . Also, a subgroup of bottles  14  distributed to the mother  12  for filling may include barcodes  16  that represent common identification information  18 . 
     The association of the infant  30 , mother  12 , bottle  14 , and syringe  24  is best described with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . As discussed above, the computer system associates the identification information  18  and  28  of the respective barcodes  16  and  26  of the bottle  14  and syringe  24  with the infant  30  and the mother  12 . This information is stored to the database  22 . In one embodiment, one or more computer programs stored on a computer readable medium associated with the computer system  20  perform the above-described association functions, and read and write the information to and from the database  22 . 
     Accordingly, the database  22  of the computer system  20  contains information of the associated infant  30 , mother  12 , bottle  14 , and syringe  24 . Thus, if a bottle  14  or syringe  24  is misplaced, it may readily be identified as belonging to the correct infant  30  and mother  12 . Even in the instance of a multiple birth, the association of the bottle  14  or syringe  24  to the infant  30  minimizes the likelihood of an accidental feeding mix-up between the siblings. Accordingly, the infant  30  is more likely to be fed as intended. 
     The database  22  may also include information related to the feeding schedule  40  of the infant. For example, the feeding schedule  40  may include a history of the previous feeding dates, times, and amounts. The feeding schedule  40  may also include future feeding date, time, and amount information. Such future feeding information may be used, for example, to alert a nurse in the NICU to feed a particular syringe  24  to a particular infant  30  (as described in more detail below). 
     The database may also utilize the barcodes  16 ,  26  provided on the respective bottles  14  and syringes  24  for purposes other than the association to the infant  30  and mother  12 . For example, the barcode  16 ,  26  may also identify the type of bottle  14  or syringe  24  it is applied to and/or a particular location of the bottle  14  or syringe  24 . Such features allow for the monitoring of inventory and frequency of use, implementation of low inventory notices, suggestion of reordering quantities, and/or automatic reordering. 
     With particular reference to  FIG. 5 , the database  22  may include at least the above-described fields of information, as well as their association. As illustrated, additional information  42  such as the date that the bottle  14  or syringe  24  was filled may be saved to the database and displayed to a user on the user interface. The information from the database  22  may be displayed, for example, by way of a graphical interface (not shown). 
     This additional information  42  stored on the database  22  may also include the date and specifics of any fortification performed to the breast milk of a particular bottle  14  and syringe  24 . The fortification of a mother&#39;s breast milk may be specific to the particular requirements of the infant  30 . For example, fortification may include the addition of nutrients, protein, minerals, vitamins, and/or carbohydrates to the breast milk. By indicating the specifics of the fortification, the tracking system  10  may minimize the likelihood of inadvertently feeding the infant  30  non-fortified milk, or feeding the infant  30  over-fortified milk. 
     In addition to barcodes  16 ,  26 , it is also possible and contemplated to organize the syringes  14  and bottles  26  through color-coding. Adding color-coding to the bottles  14  and syringes  24  of the tracking system  10  may add an additional visual barrier to identify a particular purpose of the fluid in the bottle  14  and syringe  24 . This may include using color-coding to distinguish bottles  14  and syringes  24  of milk from a particular mother  12  or for a particular infant  30 . The color-coding may also visually distinguish bottles  14  and syringes  24  of milk that require fortification or have been fortified. Such color-coding information may also be recorded to the database  22 . 
     With reference to  FIG. 6 , the computer system  20  may be implemented as a network  46 . In this embodiment, the computer system  20  includes the database  22  coupled via a server  44  to one or more workstations  50 , printers  48 , and handheld devices  54  via the network  46 . The workstations  50  may be used to input data and identification information. The printers  75  may be used to print labels  32  and  34  to be used with the bottles  14  and syringes  24 . 
     The one or more handheld devices  54  may be coupled to the network  46  through radio frequency device, such as a wireless router  52 . This allows the handheld devices  54  to be easily carried throughout the NICU, and to be located along side the infant  30 . These handheld devices  54  may be used to optically scan the barcode  16 ,  26  of the labels  32 ,  34  and to indicate whether a bottle  14  or syringe  16  is correctly matched to an infant  30 . Furthermore, the handheld devices  54  may be used for data and identification information entry in place of, or in conjunction with, the workstations, and may include integrated label printers. 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  illustrate an exemplary embodiment wherein a handheld device  54  indicates whether or not to feed a particular infant  30 . In this embodiment, the identity of the infant  30  is either associated to a particular handheld device  54 , or obtained by the handheld device  54  (e.g., by scanning a barcode associated with the infant or by a nurse manually entering the identity of the infant). The identification information of the syringe  24  is also obtained by the handheld device  54  (e.g., by scanning the barcode affixed to the syringe). If the computer system  20  identities that the infant  30  and syringe  24  matches the association stored in the database  22 , a “GO” indicator is displayed on a display  56  of the handheld device  54  and the infant  30  may be fed with the syringe  24 . Alternatively, if a “STOP” indicator is displayed on the display  56 , the infant  30  may not be fed with the syringe  24 . 
     It will be understood that parameters other than the association of the infant  30  and the syringe  24  may cause the resultant display of the “STOP” indicator. For example, the infant  30  may have recently been fed, the breast milk may be outdated, the breast milk has not yet been fortified, etc. 
     It is further contemplated that the handheld devices  54  and/or workstations  50  may be utilized in documenting and maintaining the feeding schedule  40  of the infant  30 . For example, time stamps may be generated and saved in the database  22  for purposes of tracking the infant&#39;s past feeding times. Furthermore, an alert (e.g., a message displayed on the handheld device and/or workstation) may be provided from the feeding schedule  40  that a particular syringe  24  of breast milk is to be fed to a particular infant  30 . Such an alert may be based on such factors as a predetermined feeding schedule, the duration of time since the infant&#39;s last feeding, nutritional requirements, etc. 
     Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described elements (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such elements are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any element which performs the specified function of the described element (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiment or embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been described above with respect to only one or more of several illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.