The invention is in the field of medical devices. More specifically, the invention relates to devices for the treatment of urinary bladder disorders.
Urinary incontinence has serious economic, health, social and psychological consequences. Fear of incontinence and odors in public cause incontinent people to severely restrict their social activities. The impact on the mental health of the affected people may be even more devastating than the social and health consequences. They suffer severe embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, depression and anxiety.
Urinary incontinence has been treated surgically and pharmacologically. Various conservative/behavioral treatments are also known such as pelvic floor muscle exercises, bladder training, biofeedback, vaginal cones, low-frequency electrostimulation of pelvic floor muscles, intravaginal bladder neck support pessaries, urethral meatus suction cups and intraurethral devices.
Devices which have been used to obtain almost immediate dryness in incontinent people include urethral plugs and valve catheters.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,923 describes a system comprising an expandable balloon to be inserted into the urinary bladder that may be used for the intermittent sealing of the urinary bladder outlet and the prevention of involuntary urine leakage. Sealing the urinary bladder outlet involves lodging the balloon in the outlet so as to seal it. Unsealing the outlet to allow voiding of the bladder involves dislodging the balloon from the outlet.
In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present invention provides a fillable balloon for insertion into the urinary bladder of an individual, for the treatment of urinary incontinence.
Reference is now made to
The wall 6 of the balloon 4 can be made from any biocompatible, flexible material such as silicone. The wall of the balloon 4 has an opening that will eventually be sealed closed. Prior to sealing the balloon, a central core 14, shown in
The core 14 is made from a flexible material and comprises one or more magnetable elements 18. In the embodiment of
The device 2 is delivered through the urethra into a urinary bladder with the lumen 8 of the balloon 4 empty, and the wall 6 of the balloon 4 collapsed onto the central core 14. Delivery of the device 2 is done using a delivery applicator, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,923. The magnetable elements within the core 18 confer longitudinal incompressibility to the central core, thus providing better pushability of the device through the urethra. Inside the bladder, the device 4 is filled with a fluid to its original volume or less and then released from the delivery catheter.
As shown in
When it is desired to void the bladder of urine, the external magnet 52 is removed. If, after filling of the lumen 8 the device 2 has a specific gravity less than that of urine, the device 2 will spontaneously float in the urine thus opening the bladder opening 64 and allowing voiding. If, after filling of the lumen 8 the device 2 has a specific gravity greater than that of urine, the device 2 can be moved to a non-sealing position in the bladder by placing the external magnet 52 on the individual's abdomen.
When it is desired to remove the device 2 from the body, the cannula which is within a magnetic tipped retrieval device to engage the magnetic element of the balloon 36 and connected to an empty syringe or a vacuum chamber is delivered through the urethra to the urinary bladder and the balloon is engaged. The cannula 16 is inserted into the central channel 20 of the central core (refer again to
The external magnet 52 can be incorporated into a hygienic pad or in the underwear of the individual.
The balloon 4 may be adapted to store one or more substances and releasing them into the urinary bladder. The one or more substances may be stored in the lumen 8 of the balloon, or in the wall 6 of the balloon. The balloon may further comprise imaging means for imaging the urinary bladder and a transmitter for transmitting signals from the imaging means to a receiver. The balloon may also include one or more monitoring means for monitoring urinary bladder parameters and contents of the bladder. The parameters may be, for example, bladder pressure; urine temperature; urine density; and urine composition. The balloon may further comprise a transmitter for transmitting signals from the monitoring means to a receiver. The balloon may also include one or more electrodes.
The following prior art publications are considered to be relevant for an understanding of the background of the invention: US Pat. Nos. 6,293,923, 4,258,705, 4,834,704, 4,850,963, 4,871,542, 4,925,446, 5,019,032, 5,030,199, 5,188,109, 5,234,409, 5,443,470, 5,513,659, 5,579,781, 5,604,531, 5,704,353, 5,749,845, 5,806,527, 5,984,860, 6,039,967, and 6,139,535. European Patent Publication No. 0667115.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/IL2019/051403 | 12/24/2019 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62784559 | Dec 2018 | US |