Human Milk Analyzers Are Having A Moment: Part 1
The Rise of Human Milk Analyzers: Enhancing Infant Nutrition
Devices and kits are becoming more prevalent among hospitals, donor banks, and consumers as the trend continues to expand.
Human milk analyzers are having a moment. This category includes devices that use light to analyze milk for macronutrient composition, as well as kits with test strips.
But why is the moment now?
Lactating parents, donor milk banks, and hospitals want to know: “What’s in my milk? Is it right for this infant? What, if anything, do we need to add to it to achieve optimal growth and health outcomes for the baby?”
These devices and kits provide varying levels of sample analytics, such as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and other nutrient information. It is well established that these components fluctuate over the course of a lactating parent’s milk feeding/expressing journey, and what one lactating parent produces may differ substantially from what another produces, even at the same gestational age.
Consumer Options
Parents can purchase MyLee by MyMilk, MilkStrip, Lactation Lab test kits, and more devices and kits are emerging. The MyLee consumer device collects a small milk sample and senses its electrochemical properties. Information is then sent to a smartphone app with relevant data and notifications. MilkStrip offers test strips that analyze milk for critical nutritional elements, providing a diagnosis and enhancement suggestions via an app. Lactation Lab provides similar analysis, but the sample is shipped to their lab, with results provided within one to a few weeks, depending on the analysis level chosen.
Hospital and Milk Bank Options
In the US market, the Miris HMA and Unity SpectraStar are available, with multiple analyzers marketed in Europe. Initially used in clinical research, these devices provide information on calories and the composition of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in human milk. The Miris HMA focuses on evaluating macronutrient content to ensure proper target fortification. The SpectraStar XT series uses infrared light to analyze samples in roughly 30 seconds, integrating data into relevant computer networks.
As milk analyzers gain popularity in consumer and hospital markets, Keriton is seeing them in diagnostic, clinical, and even bedside use. Some of our current customers use analyzers in their daily practice. Beyond our customers, we hear from children’s hospitals and NICUs whose clinical nutrition, lactation, and nursing teams are using or considering using a human milk analyzer.
Opportunities for Collaboration
This is exciting news because there are incredible opportunities for milk analyzer technologies and our feeding management system to collaborate. Allowing clinical teams to personalize feeding regimens and improve patient outcomes like never before.
On the consumer side, there are opportunities to integrate data from test kits directly into the Kare Mom app (available in the Apple App Store & Google Play). Imagine marrying macronutrient data to the current pumping data the app offers (volume, date/time, medications, allergies, etc.). Savvy parents can take full advantage. Of course, this information is more powerful when outpatient clinical teams use the data to tailor advice and coaching. Pumping volumes and milk quality can increase. Decision support on which milk bottles to use when can improve, leading to better patient outcomes.
In hospitals, analyzed milk data can surface for the lactation team, nutrition team, and even bedside nurses alongside feeding management information in Keriton. Our system already integrates with hospital EMRs to present patient feed order data (kCals, substrates, fortifiers, additives, etc.).
Adding milk analyzer data provides lactation teams with a new layer of insight. They can use it when advising on pumping practices or planning nutritional guidance. The nutrition team can use analyzer data to precisely calculate the fortifiers and additives needed to create the ordered caloric and macronutrient targets. Even bedside nurses and/or patient care techs can use the analyzer data to prioritize bottles to feed based on identified contents, such as higher protein content earlier, and relevant expirations.
It truly is an exciting time for milk analyzers in neonatal and pediatric care environments. These are just a few possibilities of how the data can be used to improve patient outcomes.
What are your ideas on how milk analysis can be used in your unit?
Would you like to know more about Keriton? Contact us.