Non-Nutritive Suck Parameters Measurements Using a Custom Pressure Transducer System.

ABSTRACT

The non-nutritive suck (NNS) device is a transportable, user-friendly pressure transducer system that quantifies infants' NNS behavior on a pacifier. Recording and analysis of the NNS signal using our system can provide measures of an infant's NNS burst duration (s), amplitude (cmH2O), and frequency (Hz). Accurate, reliable, and quantitative assessment of NNS has immense value in serving as a biomarker for future feeding, speech-language, cognitive, and motor development. The NNS device has been used in numerous research lines, some of which have included measuring NNS features to investigate the effects of feeding-related interventions, characterizing NNS development across populations, and correlating sucking behaviors with subsequent neurodevelopment. The device has also been used in environmental health research to examine how exposures in utero can influence infant NNS development. Thus, the overarching goal in research and clinical utilization of the NNS device is to correlate NNS parameters with neurodevelopmental outcomes to identify children at risk for developmental delays and provide rapid early intervention.