Signal Catheter Prevents Injury from Premature Balloon Inflation

Safe Medical Design, a company based in San Francisco, CA, won FDA clearance for its Signal Catheter device. The indwelling foley urinary catheter is designed to help prevent discomfort and injury that can occur if it’s incorrectly placed, an all-too-common occurrence. Indwelling urinary catheters typically have a balloon at the tip that is inflated once it’s within the bladder. This prevents the catheter from sliding out. When the patient is “dry” and no urine is in the catheter, it’s often difficult to tell whether the catheter tip made it into the bladder, at times resulting in premature inflation that can cause serious trauma. The Signal Catheter is made of 100% silicone and it features a mechanism that relieves the pressure inside the balloon if it is improperly positioned and inflated inside the urethra. Read more.

Source: Medgadget, March 1, 2019

First New Urinary Catheter for 80 Years to Be Revealed

The inventors of a new catheter claim it could solve one of “the biggest problems” in community nursing and reduce discomfort, embarrassment and complications for millions of patients. They are nearing the final stages of developing their new Flume Catheter, which they hope will solve many of the common problems associated with current models, and are calling on nurses to help them with their ongoing research. Their design, which was also developed with input from community nurses, is less likely to block and also less of an infection risk than older models, according to the clinicians and engineers behind it. Read more.

Source: Nursing Times, November 15, 2017

Spanner Prostatic Stent, an Alternative to Foley Catheters, Approved in Europe

SRS Medical Systems (Feeding Hills, MA) landed CE Mark approval for its Spanner temporary prostatic stent for men with bladder outlet obstructions. The Spanner temporary prostatic stent is an option over Foley and intermittent catheters, which are commonly used these days. Read more.

Source: Medgadget, June 29, 2016

Catheters for Managing Urinary Incontinence

Diagram of an intermittent catheter in place in a male for Clean Intermittent Catheterization (CIC).

There are three types of catheter products that are used for managing urinary incontinence: indwelling (sometimes called a Foley) catheters, suprapubic catheters, and intermittent catheters. The process of catheterization prevents a difficult-to-empty bladder from becoming overly full and backing up into the kidneys. This prevents kidney damage because these catheter drains urine from the bladder.Continue reading→