A Pacifier-type low-pressure monitoring hardware system for quantitative infant non-nutritive sucking assessment

Non-nutritive sucking (NNS) is an early oral-motor behavior that reflects infant neuromotor maturation and feeding readiness, yet bedside NNS assessment remains largely subjective and examiner dependent. We developed a pacifier-type low-pressure monitoring hardware system integrating a pacifier-linked air-pressure pathway, I2C-based pressure-sensor interface, microcontroller unit, display module, USB serial communication, and buzzer feedback. The firmware supports a 60-s timed measurement workflow and outputs eight NNS-derived features: burst duration, pressure amplitude, peak count, intra-burst frequency, peak interval average time, cycles per burst, burst count, and pause average time. A subject-wise analysis pipeline was defined for raw-data inventory, waveform quality control, feature extraction, and generation of publication-ready tables and figures. The system is intended as a reproducible research hardware platform for infant NNS pressure-signal acquisition, operational workflow testing, and structured dataset construction. Formal bench calibration, repeatability testing, and clinical validation remain necessary before the system can be interpreted as a quantitatively validated measurement device. Following successful clinical validation, the proposed system may support objective assessment of infant feeding readiness and early identification of infants at risk for feeding difficulties in clinical settings.