Vaginal Incontinence Device with Adaptive Leverage Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for preventing female stress urinary incontinence often cause anatomical deformation, discomfort, and pain due to constant pressure on a small area, and require delicate positioning, which can lead to ineffectiveness or urinary difficulties.
Innovation Solution
A device with a proximal part placed in the sub-urethral zone and a distal part in the subvesical zone, featuring a closed contour that adapts to bladder fullness via a leverage effect, providing distributed pressure and reducing discomfort by automatically adjusting to bladder filling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing devices exert constant pressure on the bladder neck and urethra, then they can prevent urinary incontinence, but they cause anatomical deformation, discomfort, and pain
Solution Approach 1:
The device transitions from static constant pressure to dynamic adaptive pressure. The distal part's closed contour allows the device to adapt its shape and pressure distribution based on bladder fullness, exerting greater pressure when the bladder is full and reducing pressure when empty, thereby preventing incontinence while minimizing discomfort and anatomical deformation
Solution Approach 2:
The device changes its physical parameters (shape, pressure distribution) in response to bladder fullness. The closed contour of the distal part enables parameter adaptation, allowing the device to optimize its supportive function while reducing harmful constant pressure effects on the urethra and surrounding tissues
2Reliability
If existing devices apply pressure on a very small area of the wall, then they can provide localized support, but they cause concentrated pressure leading to discomfort and pain
Solution Approach 1:
The device combines localized support function with distributed pressure distribution. The closed contour of the distal part merges the supportive action at the bladder neck with distributed pressure along the suburethral zone, maintaining effectiveness while reducing concentrated pressure points that cause discomfort
Solution Approach 2:
The device extends the pressure distribution from a single point (bladder neck only) to multiple dimensions including the suburethral zone and surrounding tissues. The closed contour creates a broader contact area that distributes pressure across multiple anatomical structures, reducing concentrated pressure while maintaining support effectiveness
3Reliability
If existing devices are positioned deeply to be effective, then they can support the bladder neck, but they require delicate positioning and can cause urinary difficulties if misplaced
Solution Approach 1:
The device performs self-positioning and self-adjustment within the vagina. The closed contour of the distal part enables the device to automatically find its optimal position and adapt to anatomical variations, reducing the need for delicate manual positioning and minimizing the risk of urinary difficulties associated with improper placement
4Reliability
If existing devices raise the urethro-vesical junction constantly, then they can prevent incontinence during all activities, but they create unnecessary pressure when the bladder is empty causing discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The device implements periodic adaptive pressure rather than constant pressure. The closed contour allows the device to exert pressure periodically in response to bladder fullness, providing support when needed (when bladder is full) and reducing pressure when the bladder is empty, thereby eliminating unnecessary discomfort while maintaining continuous incontinence prevention capability
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively prevents urinary incontinence with minimal discomfort by dynamically adapting to bladder fullness, providing increased support when needed and reduced pressure when the bladder is empty, thus minimizing anatomical deformation and pain.
Implementation Method 1
thanks to the use of a distal part of closed contour, delimiting an extended surface of action of the weight of the bladder, this weight acts on this distal part according to the state of filling of the bladder ; this distal part then transmits, by a leverage effect, a force which is all the greater as the bladder is full, to the proximal part
Implementation Method 2
a distal part (14) extending the second end of the proximal part (12), made of a material that can be deformed under pressure in a reversible manner
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention concerns a device for preventing female stress incontinence designed to be arranged in the vagina, comprising a proximal part (12) extending between a free end and a second end, configured to be undeformable under pressure and to be placed in the suburethral region of the vagina, and a distal part (14) extending the second end of the proximal part (12), made of a material reversibly deformable under pressure, and designed to be placed in the subvesical region of the vagina. The invention is characterized in that the distal part (14) delimits a closed outline which receives the weight of the bladder and transforms same into an ascending force acting on the urethra.