Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Device with Biofeedback Firewall
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals with weak pelvic floor muscles often struggle to perform Kegel exercises effectively due to difficulty identifying the correct muscles to contract, maintaining contractions long enough, or adhering to exercise regimens, leading to issues like incontinence, and existing devices lack engagement and guidance to encourage consistent muscle conditioning.
Innovation Solution
A muscle stimulation system combined with a biofeedback system that interacts with interactive games, featuring a firewall between stimulation and biofeedback components to prevent unauthorized control, and requiring authorization codes for software modifications, encourages users to engage in pelvic floor muscle exercises through controlled stimulation and feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If electric stimulation is used to strengthen pelvic floor muscles, then muscle tone improvement is achieved, but user engagement and exercise consistency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates biofeedback functionality that provides real-time feedback to users about their muscle contraction quality and effectiveness. This feedback loop helps users understand whether they are correctly engaging their pelvic floor muscles, improving both exercise technique and motivation to continue the program.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing system that acts as a mediator between the stimulation component and biofeedback component. This intermediary prevents direct control of stimulation by biofeedback signals, ensuring safety while still allowing both functions to work together to improve user engagement and muscle strengthening.
2Measurement precision
If biofeedback is used to monitor muscle activity, then exercise technique guidance is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediary processing system is introduced to manage the complexity of integrating stimulation and biofeedback components. This intermediary layer handles signal processing and coordination while preventing direct interaction between components, thereby maintaining measurement precision without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is segmented into distinct functional components (stimulation component, biofeedback component, and intermediary processing system) that can be independently developed, tested, and maintained. This modular segmentation allows for precise muscle activity monitoring while managing system complexity through clear component boundaries and interfaces.
3Ease of operation
If stimulation and biofeedback are integrated, then user guidance and engagement are improved, but safety risks increase due to potential unauthorized control
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediary processing system serves as a safety mediator that prevents the biofeedback component from directly controlling the stimulation component. This architectural constraint ensures that even if biofeedback signals are manipulated or malfunction, they cannot directly cause unsafe stimulation levels, thereby maintaining user guidance functionality while preserving safety and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements preliminary protective measures by designing the intermediary to preemptively block any potential harmful interactions between components. This preventive approach ensures that safety constraints are built into the system architecture before any malfunction or unauthorized control can occur, rather than relying on post-facto safety mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is a system and method for providing an electrical stimulation signal to condition the pelvic wall muscles of a user and demonstrate to the user the proper muscle usage. The system and method also provides a system for measuring the users muscle response. The system and method also provides an entertaining interaction environment which encourages the user to perform self-initiated conditioning exercises.