Below you will find news and press releases from industry, government, and academia regarding product developments and medical/scientific research news.
A Connected Wearable Device to Help People Get to the Bathroom Before It’s Too Late to Be Released in US Later This Year
Triple W, a startup company that develops the first connected wearable device that can track the progression of bladder movements using non-invasive ultrasonic sensors, announced today that their product will be released in the US later this year. The device will help elderly and disabled people who suffer from incontinence by notifying when they will need to go to the bathroom. As a result, users no longer have to worry about accidents and can often forgo the embarrassment of wearing diapers. According to a report released by CDC, more than 50 percent of older Americans struggle with incontinence. Incontinence occurs when muscles are too weak or too active. There are other causes of incontinence, such as prostate problems and nerve damage. Read more.
Source: PRNewswire, March 5, 2018
GTx Announced New Data Demonstrating Enobosarm’s Potential to Treat Stress Urinary Incontinence at SUFU 2018
GTx, Inc. (Nasdaq:GTXI) today announced additional results from a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial of 3 mg enobosarm administered orally in postmenopausal women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI), including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results from patients’ pelvic floor muscle. New data in a subset of women also suggests a positive treatment effect of enobosarm for urge incontinence (UI) suggesting a possible treatment effect for women with mixed incontinence. Results from a pre-specified analysis of MRI data demonstrate a statistically significant increase in pelvic floor muscle thickness and urethral muscle diameter after enobosarm treatment. Treatment with enobosarm also reduced mean UI episodes by approximately 68 percent in patients who experienced UI as well as SUI, based on a post hoc analysis of a subset of women with both UI and SUI. These results were outlined during a podium presentation which took place at the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine, & Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU) 2018 Meeting on Saturday, March 3, 2018. The presentation included clinical data from all 18 patients completing 12 weeks of enobosarm treatment, which, as previously reported, demonstrated an 81 percent reduction in the number of mean stress leaks per day (the primary endpoint of the clinical trial), as well as additional data demonstrating duration of response following completion of treatment, including nine patients who have now reached seven months post-treatment. Read more.
Source: Business Wire, March 5, 2018
StimGuard Launches Head-to-Head Trial Against Medtronic’s InterStim
StimGuard yesterday announced plans for a clinical trial comparing its nerve stimulator with the InterStim sacral nerve stimulator made by Medtronic (NYSE:MDT). Pompano Beach, Fla.-based StimGuard is already running a pivotal study of its technology, a miniature implantable device designed to treat urinary incontinence resulting from refractory overactive bladder syndrome. The device is implanted at the tibial nerve through a needle-sized introducer and uses wireless technology to stimulate the nerve. Read more.
Source: Massdevice, March 1, 2018
More Than Just a Cosmetic Procedure — ‘Tummy Tuck’ Reduces Back Pain and Incontinence
In addition to restoring the pre-pregnancy shape of the abdomen, abdominoplasty (‘tummy tuck’) surgery with muscle repair can improve back pain and urinary incontinence after childbearing, reports a study in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Although abdominoplasty is classified as a cosmetic procedure, it also improves two of the most common physical complaints experienced by women after labor and delivery. According to the new research “Abdominoplasty has a proven functional benefit as well as a cosmetic benefit,” comments lead author D. Alastair Taylor, FRACS, of The CAPS Clinic in Deakin, Australia. Read more.
Source: EurekAlert, February 28, 2018
Nurses Welcome NICE Support for Irrigation Device for Constipation and Faecal Incontinence
A medical device for treating constipation and faecal incontinence has been recommended for health service use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Specialist stoma care nurses working with both children and adults affected by faecal continence problems welcomed the decision by NICE to back the use of the Peristeen transanal irrigation system.In new medical technology guidance published today, NICE said the “case for adopting” the Peristeen for managing bowel dysfunction was “supported by the evidence”. According to NICE, the system can “reduce the severity of constipation and incontinence, improve quality of life and promote dignity and independence”. Read more.
Source: Nursing Times, February 23, 2018
BewellConnect’s MyPeriTens Multi-Action Pelvic Floor Trainer
BewellConnect recently unveiled their new pelvic floor muscle trainer to help women with related issues, including post-partum complications and incontinence. The MyPeriTens device is both an electrical nerve stimulator and electrical muscle stimulator that is controlled through a smartphone app, allowing women to have precise control over the intensity and nature of the electrical signals delivered. The smartphone app has a number of routines built in that the woman can perform on her own, or with assistance of a physical therapist. Each routine can be selected to run at the patient’s preferred intensity level, maximizing benefits while keeping any pain and discomfort at a minimum. Read more.
Source: Medgadget, February 15, 2018
Incontinence Affects More Than 200m People Worldwide, So Why Isn’t More Being Done to Find a Cure?
For a chronic health condition that causes shame and misery for countless people and costs billions, urinary incontinence keeps a low profile. Media reports about chronic health conditions appear with alarming regularity, but it is rare to read about the debilitating impact of the involuntary leakage of urine. Nevertheless, urinary incontinence is a condition which, next to Alzheimer’s or strokes, is reported as most negatively affecting “health-related quality of life”. The reasons for this are not too hard to fathom. Urinary incontinence, of course, elicits some embarrassment. And there also seems to be a feeling this is a low priority condition: urinary incontinence does not directly bear up against the terrible impacts of life threatening conditions and illnesses. Read more.
Source: The Conversation, February 14, 2018