Smart breast pumps bearing the press release "Domestic Baby Tech," "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal" and "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal+" were launched by Pigeon Corporation on August 20, 2018.
On August 2, just prior to the release of the product, the BabyTech editorial team visited Pigeon Corporation, the company that developed and launched the product. We spoke with Pigeon officials and NTT Resonant Corporation, developer of the "Pigeon Switch" application, about the product's features and aims.
(We spoke to...)
Pigeon Corporation
Mr. Keiji Kubota, Marketing Group
Mr. Yuichiro Tanaka, Feeding and Lactation Research and Development Group
NTT Resonant Inc.
Mr. Naganori Kimoto, Manager, Corporate Sales Division
Mr. Satoshi Omidera, Senior Manager, Corporate Sales Division
From left to right: Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Komidera, Mr. Kimoto, Mr. Kubota (titles omitted)
Domestic Baby Tech" born from the renewal of the "Breast Crammer" lineup.
Editorial:Can you tell us how the new Pigeon breast pump, which will be marketed as "Domestic Baby Tech," was developed?
Kubota:We have recently renewed our entire "milk collector" series. One of the improvements is the "linkage between the milk collector and smartphone app," which was a key point of BabyTech's renewal.
Editorial:How is a "milk collector" used in the first place?
Kubota:For example, a mother whose milk supply is slow may "suckle" frequently and feed her baby after a certain amount of milk has been stored. Another example is when a mother whose child drinks so little that her breast milk remains in her breast and causes her breasts to become tender and painful, and then she "suckles" the excess milk. We offer four types of breast pumps to meet various needs. They can be broadly classified into two types: manual type and electric type.
Editorial:What are the features of each?
Kubota:The manual type product is one type of "Breastfeeding Assist Manual," in which the mother holds the handle by hand to suction and "pump" the milk. There are three types of electric breast pumps, which use an electric pump to suction and "pump" the milk. The product lineup includes the "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Handy Fit," which integrates a breastfeeding mouthpiece and electric pump, the "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal" and the "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal+", in which the electric pump is connected to the feeding tube.
Editorial:Which of these products are called "baby tech"?
Kubota:These are the "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal" and "Breastfeeding Assist Electric Pro Personal+" that work with the "Pigeon Switch" smartphone application.
Electric Pro Personal
Electric Pro Personal+
Editorial:What is the difference between those two products?
Kubota:As you can see, the "Electric Pro Personal" for one breast has a single outlet, while the "Electric Pro Personal+" for both breasts has two outlets for the bottle portion. On the other hand, the "Electric Pro Personal+" for both breasts has a bottle section with two feeding ports, allowing simultaneous "suckling" of both breasts. This simply halves the time it takes to milk and allows for more efficient feeding.
What is Pigeon Switch, the smartphone app that works with the breast pump?
Editorial:What can the Pigeon Switch smartphone app, which works in conjunction with the breast pump, do?
Kubota:Let us explain using the actual app. Pigeon Switch," which was developed as a "milk collector linking application," can be connected to "Electric Pro Personal" and "Electric Pro Personal+" via Bluetooth. When launched, the top screen as shown below is displayed.
Kubota:The top screen is divided into three areas from the top: the area displaying the child's growth (white part of the screen), the area for recording breastfeeding, feeding, and suckling (light pink part of the screen), and the operation area (dark pink part of the screen). For example, by pressing the "Breast-feeding" icon in the "Operation Area," the following screen appears and the breast pump itself can be operated with a smartphone.
Kubota:In other words, the smart phone becomes a remote control for the breast pump. The "suckling" mode (rhythm, speed setting, and strength of suckling) can be changed. The "suckling" step on the main unit has three different suction rhythms: "simple mode," "natural mode," and "custom mode. The "Custom Mode" can be linked to the "Pigeon Switch" app to add three additional suction rhythms to the Custom Mode: "Rapid Simple," "Relaxed Simple," and "Speed Mix.
Editorial:I see that the app adds a suction rhythm for "suckling" milk. If so, would it be possible for mothers to choose according to their own preferences?
Kubota:It is possible. At present, there are six suction rhythms, each with six levels of strength adjustment, which means that there are 36 different suction variations available for breastfeeding. When you have finished "suckling," you can use the "Record" page as shown below.
Kubota:The "sucking rhythm" and "time of suckling" used are automatically recorded here, and "milk volume" can be recorded by touching the breastfeeding bottle icon and swiping up and down. You can also record the purpose of use, such as "use immediately, save, or not use," "refrigerated or frozen," "place of feeding," "physical condition at feeding," "other notes," and more.
Editorial:So all data related to milk production can be managed with this application.
Kubota:Yes. Recorded data can be viewed in the app, and a notification (reminder) will automatically appear when the expiration date of breast milk stored in the refrigerator or freezer has passed.
Tanaka:The use-by date is set at 24 hours refrigerated and 3 months frozen (recommended).
Kubota:In addition, "breastfeeding" can also be recorded, including "feeding volume," "feeding time," and "content of feeding (breast milk, formula, or mixed milk). It is difficult to record on paper the data of "suckling" and "feeding" that is done many times a day, but with a smartphone, it is easy to do so. In addition, this application can total the data by "day", "week", and "month", and display it as a line graph, so you can easily look back on the changes in the amount of breast milk and breastfeeding.
Editorial:How will such records be used?
Kubota:For example, when a child is sick, the doctor will inquire how much breast milk or formula the child is taking and ascertain the symptoms, and you will be able to give an accurate answer. For mothers who are raising their children, seeing the numbers and graphs of how much milk they have been "suckling" and "feeding" will help motivate them to breastfeed their children and encourage them to keep up the good work. Other features of the application include the ability to record your child's height and weight, links to our information website on breastfeeding and childcare, the ability to display random photos of your child taken, and a notification (reminder) function to let you know when to breastfeed or suckle your child.
Development of "Pigeon Switch" utilizing experience in developing healthcare applications
Editorial:Can you tell us about NTT Resonant's role in the development of this product?
Kigimoto:Since the health care device boom several years ago, we have been developing applications that use Bluetooth to link smartphones and measurement devices. This is how we came to be involved in the development of this product. We have also released a number of smartphone news applications and Q&A service applications for general consumers through our own portal site "goo," and we believe we have been recognized in this area.
Editorial:I understand that you played a major role in the development of Pigeon Switch. I thought the screen was very easy to read and use.
Kigimoto:We had a lot of discussions about the UI of the application from the planning stage so that mothers would feel comfortable viewing it.
Editorial:Speaking of planning, what made you choose the "breast pump" as your first BabyTech product?
Kubota:Breast-feeding is done several times a day, so we thought that using new technology would reduce the burden on mothers. We do not have many electrically powered products in our product lineup, but we did have an electric breast pump in our product lineup, so that was another reason why we chose to use a breast pump. Another reason was that the use of smartphones and apps was becoming more widespread and more easily accepted by the general public.
Editorial:Can you tell us how you came to use the term "baby tech" in the launch of this product?
Kigimoto:The keyword "baby tech," which has been rapidly gaining momentum in recent months, fits perfectly with the concept of this product, which is why we proposed it in our news release. The term "baby tech" was still largely unknown when we started developing the app, so we felt that Pigeon was very progressive in its approach even then.
Tanaka:It was about two years ago that the linkage with smartphones was included in the project.
Komidera:At this time, we hope to make Pigeon's products widely known by describing them as "domestic baby tech," a cross between Pigeon, Japan's top brand as a manufacturer of childcare products, and our NTT Group's technology.
Pigeon Switch" will be a total database on childcare and could become a treasure trove of hints for new product development.
Editorial:How do you plan to develop the "Pigeon Switch" application in the future?
Kubota:First of all, we would like to receive "customer feedback" after the product is launched. Then, we would like to improve unsatisfactory points and further enhance good points.
Tanaka:You can jump to the "Inquiry Form" on the Pigeon website from the app's menu, so we hope to receive customer feedback and requests for improvement from there as well.
Editorial:NTT Resonant, based on your experience in developing apps that work with healthcare devices, do you have any thoughts on the future development of "Pigeon Switch"?
Kigimoto: Currently, "Pigeon Switch" mainly records data related to "breastfeeding" and "suckling," but we expect that this will gradually expand to other areas. It is like a "mother-child notebook" that allows users to record various aspects of child-rearing in a single app. Since it is difficult to capture a variety of data in a paper-based mother-child handbook, I think we will move in the direction of apps that are linked to childcare products to enable smooth recording of data. Pigeon offers a variety of childcare products in addition to breast pumps.
Kubota:There are "non-contact thermometers" and "child seats" that have already been realized by other overseas companies.
Kigimoto:In the past, we have developed apps that work with health care products, and they have gradually evolved from simply recording the number of steps taken to incorporating various data such as sleep status, heart rate, and body temperature, eventually taking the form of a "total health care app. Therefore, we believe that "Pigeon Switch" will evolve into an app that records total information related to childcare. We are also looking forward to proposing a UI and operability that will make it easier to use. We also expect to make many discoveries as we gather more feedback from our customers through this app. We believe this will lead to the development and improvement of new childcare products.
Editorial:Are there any plans at this time to develop new products that will be linked to smartphones?
Kubota:If new technology can make childcare more comfortable for our customers, we are eager to work on it.
<After the interview
We felt that "Pigeon Switch," which is linked to a breast pump, has the potential to become a "total childcare application" that integrates a "mother-child handbook, medication handbook, vaccination handbook," etc., by linking it to various childcare products in the future. When a child has a health problem, data on the child's condition up to that point is indispensable. I am sure that many of you have had the experience of having to search for the "Maternal and Child Health Handbook," "Medication Handbook," or "Vaccination Handbook" because you could not find them when an emergency occurred. The benefits of having all of these in one place, always at hand, on a smartphone, would be immeasurable. We look forward to the further development of this product as a "domestically produced baby tech.
In addition, the following comments were made by the wife of the reporter, who is actually raising a 3-month-old child, after using these products (Breast Milk Assist Electric Pro Personal and Pigeon Switch) for 2 weeks as a monitor (she has been using a manual breast pump from Pigeon Corporation for some time).
- Electric milk closers cause less breast pain than manual milk closers.
- With an electric milk pump, the neck does not have to be turned down to "suckle," making it easier on the neck than with manual "suckling.
- With an electric milk pump, you can do as much work as operating a PC while "suckling" (with a manual "suckler" you can't take your hands off the wheel).
- I used to get tendonitis from too much "suckling," but it's really easy with the electric.
- I can relax while breastfeeding, which gives me more peace of mind.
- The baby will drink the same whether the breast milk is manually "pumped" or electrically "pumped".
- It is better to be able to "suckle" both breasts at the same time to save time. In addition, since "suckling" is done by alternately changing the breast to be suckled, I would prefer the "Electric Pro Personal+" that can "suckle" both breasts at the same time in order to accurately and easily record the amount of milk produced in the application.
- Since my milk production was much lower than the standard amount set by the app, it was difficult to record with the sliding scale.
We expect to see more and more domestic baby tech products from various manufacturers in the future. We are looking forward to it!
babytech.jp is accepting interview requests from manufacturers.Please contact us using the form.
