Design and development of plugged lactiferous duct treatment technology for nursing women

Plugged lactiferous ducts are a common problem that many nursing women encounter. This occurs when the tissue around a milk duct has become inflamed, thus preventing milk from passing through the duct. Women treat and prevent plugged ducts by massaging the affected area on the breast. There are no products currently on the market that use massage techniques to help mothers with plugged ducts. This study proposes a design of a device to treat plugged lactiferous ducts. The problem is explored and formulated into a problem statement. Design requirements of the device are derived from the problem statement and are listed and explained. The concept generation, concept selection, concept refinement, and prototyping phases are described. Finally, recommendations for future development are discussed.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Mellor, Xochitl L

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alexandra H Techet.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98776

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/98776