Developers: | Boston Scientific |
Date of the premiere of the system: | Dec 2022 |
Branches: | Pharmaceuticals, Medicine, Healthcare |
Main article: Urinary incontinence
2022: Announcement of an automatic implant to treat urinary incontinence
At the end of November 2022, a fully automatic urinary incontinence implant from Boston Scientific began to be used in the United States.
Researchers from institutions such as Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Polystim-Neurotechnology Laboratories have been working for years to build intelligent automatic implant devices, aiming to replace hand pumps with sensor systems that automate urinary control.
Urinary incontinence represents involuntary urinary discharge, it only debuts when the patient notes the presence of a problem. However, the presence of the disease is often not reported, and it remains undiagnosed. Many patients do not report the issue to their treating doctors, and many doctors do not specifically ask about incontinence. Incontinence can develop at any age, but is most common among older adults and women, affecting about 30% of older women and 15% of older men.
Boston Scientific is working to bring such technology to market. The implant is equipped with sensors that measure patient activity. Algorithms interpret sensor data and tell the device what pressure to apply to the urethra. The device can change the level of pressure depending on the activity of the patient, for example, reducing it when it lies and increasing it during exercise.
As of December 1, 2022, the UroActive device is implanted in a male patient. The procedure was conducted at a hospital in France as part of a clinical trial that Boston Scientific is conducting to support its drive to bring the technology to market. According to the developers, this is the next important step in providing our technology to a large population of patients with unmet needs who are not satisfied with the[1] options on the market]
Notes
- ↑ [https://www.medtechdive.com/news/Incontinence-clinical-trial-automated-implant/637588/ existing UroMems starts clinical trial of smart, automated implant to treat incontinence