Abstract
Based on the clinical observation of sucking from the aspect of expression in cleft palate feeding, we have invented a new type nipple. The nipple is designed as flat and hard on the top, hemispherical and soft on the bottom, and with crosscut opening for better adaptation to the palatal anatomy and for better tongue touches for encouraging the practice of feeding skills. The aim of the present study is to clarify the physical properties of the nipple in comparison with those of conventinal nipples on the market.
The results from the clinical experiment on the expression pressure (du r i n g non-nutritive sucking)revealed that the pressure in cleft palate infants showed very low level with 28.5 mmHg (± 9.6) compared to 109.1 mmHg (± 20.9) in normal infants. The laboratory test on the compression-strain of the nipple showed that the nipple required lesser loads by 20-60 g than the conventional nipples when the strains were above the 5 mm level. The test on the liquid flow through the crosscut opening under the suction of -1,000 mmH2O showed that (a) the flowout amount of liquid increased in accordance with the increase of the strain of nipple and (b) the flowout amount of liquid of the nipple with crosscut opening showed more by 50-100 ml/min than the conventional nipples with crosscut opening. These results suggested that the nipple with our feature may be more effective than the conventional ones for clinical use in infants with poor sucking ability.
