Below you will find news and press releases from industry, government, and academia regarding product developments and medical/scientific research news.
Continence NZ Marks 25 Years of Providing Support
Continence NZ is marking 25 years of providing support to the more than 1.1 million New Zealanders who live with bladder and bowel incontinence, by reminding affected Kiwis they don’t have to be embarrassed or suffer in silence. September 24-October 1 is Continence NZ’s Awareness Week. Incredibly, bladder and/or bowel control problems affect more than 1.1 million New Zealanders over the age of 15, including 25 percent of younger women, 34 percent of older women and 22 percent of older men. The impact on the physical and emotional health of people with incontinence issues can be significant and devastating, and is sadly often underestimated. Living with incontinence can feel humiliating, but Continence NZ is here to help. Read more.
Source: Scoop, September 29, 2017
TERREWODE Receives Funding to Serve Obstetric Fistula Patients
Women in Uganda suffering from obstetric fistula just received a million reasons to be hopeful. Support from the Uganda Fistula Fund for TERREWODE, as well as the Hamlin International Partners in Australia and the United States, has raised over $1.6 million for TERREWODE, a non-governmental organization in East Uganda, which implements a community outreach program to provide surgical treatment and holistic education and empowerment for women with obstetric fistula. The funds will be used to build a specialized women’s hospital including a 30-bed fistula surgical block and a 30-bed social reintegration block in Soroti, Uganda, modeled after the renowned Hamlin Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. Read more.
Source: Life Pulse Health, September 28, 2017
First Patient in Malaysia Successfully Treated with Urolastic™
Urogyn B.V. and Leader Biomedical announce the first patient treated in Malaysia with Urolastic™– an innovative Urinary Stress Incontinence product that is exclusively offered by Leader Biomedical in India and APAC. We are excited to announce that we have successfully introduced Urolastic™ in Malaysia and treated a female patient suffering from severe Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI). The patient suffered from the condition, as a result of birth deficiencies and was diagnosed with a short, yet very wide urethra. After previously undergoing a procedure using a bulking agent, the patient went down from using eight pads a day, to five pads a day. Treatment with Urolastic™ earlier this month by Dr. Warren Lo Hwa Loon at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur has improved the patient’s condition, as a result of which she now only uses one pad a day, thus significantly improving her quality of life. Stress Urinary Incontinence is a disease affecting over 200 million people worldwide. Traditionally, SUI is treated with either a sling or injection of a bulking agent, where a sling procedure is an invasive procedure for the patient and the traditional bulking agents are expensive, as they are only effective for a short period and need to be repeated regularly. Read more.
Source: OpenPR, September 26, 2017
Essity and Microsoft Partner on Internet of Things for TENA Identifi
Essity, a leading global hygiene and health company, and Microsoft will partner to leverage the power of big data and cloud computing to further enhance Essity’s market-leading hygiene and health products and solutions around the world. Essity will implement Microsoft’s Azure cloud-based computing platform. Azure is a collection of integrated cloud services used to build, deploy and manage applications through Microsoft’s global network of data centers. Essity, which develops, produces and sells many of the world’s best-known hygiene and health products, including the global leading Tork and TENA brands, began to leverage big data to deliver smart solutions that help to improve the lives of people around the world four years ago, when it took an Internet of Things (IoT) approach to incontinence care for nursing home residents. Essity’s TENA Identifi was the first incontinence care product designed to electronically track a patient’s voiding patterns. The data is graphically converted into actionable, evidence-based reports to help nursing home staff optimize individualized continence care by ensuring that the right products are being used and that toilet routines are optimized, enhancing quality of life for nursing home residents. Read more.
Source: PRNewswire, September 20, 2017
Consure Medical Improves Ease-of-Use & Comfort of Patients with FI
You may not think that the topic of fecal incontinence (FI) and management sounds very lucrative or interesting, and within demanding and stressful healthcare environments it is usually last to receive attention. Even if healthcare workers do think about these issues, they often do not have as much time as they would like to invest in fecal management, and they have had few options to choose from until now. Consure Medical has developed Qora, a novel stool management kit, that not only improves management, patient care, and provides ease of use with no compromise of patient safety, but it also greatly reduces overall hospital stay and associated costs. Qora can greatly reduce the incidence, occurrence, and the costs associated with hospital acquired conditions (HACs), including nosocomial infections such as C. diff, Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI), Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI), and hospital-acquired pressure injury (HAPI), in comparison to the traditional practices of FI management. Read more.
Source: medGadget, September 15, 2017
RDD Pharma Awarded CDMRP Grant for Clinical Drug for SCI Patients
RDD Pharma, a leader in developing treatments for anorectal disorders, announced today the Department of Defense office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) has funded the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) Translational Research Award – Clinical Trial application. The grant of $1.28M will enable initial U.S. clinical development of RDD-0315 for fecal incontinence in spinal cord injury patients including preparations for and conducting of a Phase 1 study in healthy volunteers to assess acute tolerance and PK. “We are pleased the CDMRP recognized the clinically significant benefit that RDD-0315 may offer spinal cord injury patients,” stated Jason Laufer, Chief Executive Officer, RDD Pharma. “We can now move forward more aggressively in the U.S. to develop RDD-0315 which has the potential to positively impact the health, well-being and quality of life in this patient population.” Read more.
Source: PRNewswire, September 14, 2017
Cogentix Announces Cahaba Extends Urgent PC Maintenance Coverage
Cogentix Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: CGNT), a global medical device company focused on providing the Urology, Uro/Gyn and Gynecology markets with innovative and proprietary products, today announced that Cahaba Government Benefit Administrators, LLC has modified their policy for Percutaneous Tibial Nerve Stimulation (PTNS) delivered via Cogentix Medical’s Urgent® PC Neuromodulation System to allow for ongoing maintenance treatments for an indefinite period of time. “This policy update further reinforces the medical necessity of Urgent PC as a long-term solution for patients suffering with overactive bladder symptoms,” said Darin Hammers, President and CEO. “Additionally, the policy change to indefinite coverage allows the patient and physician to decide whether to continue ongoing treatment with Urgent PC to sustain their symptomatic improvements.” Read more.
Source: PRNewswire, September 13, 2017