I-Corps: A novel vaginal dynamometer for evaluating pelvic floor health in women

I-Corps：一种用于评估女性盆底健康的新型阴道测力计

• 批准号: 2010176
• 负责人: Robert Hitchcock
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-01-15 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2010176&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; novel; vaginal; dynamometer; evaluating

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a new device to take accurate measures of pelvic floor strength to provide with physicians with a reliable and repeatable assessment of pelvic floor health. One in every four women in the US will experience a pelvic floor disorder in their lifetime. Physicians still rely on digital palpation, a finger-squeeze test, to assess the pelvic floor, which has marginal clinical reliability. This device can detect small changes in pelvic floor strength and help physicians diagnose a pelvic floor disorder before symptoms arise. This project will not only focus on the development of this diagnostic device, but also begin assessing the need and commercial opportunity for other products focused on pelvic floor care and rehabilitation. Pelvic health is a largely underserved market and has only recently gained attention through the commercialization of several mobile health training aids. This I-Corps project is to explore the development of a vaginal dynamometer, based on a reusable speculum coupled with a removable sensor to assess pelvic floor strength. The results from this device showed that a removable sensor design provides accurate results while reducing the cost-per-use to an acceptable level for routine use. The major limiting factor of current pelvic floor assessment technologies is the cost of use. Perineometers, ultrasound, and MRI are prohibitively costly for routine use in regular gynecologic checkups. The removable sensor design allows the patient-contacting portion of the device to undergo standard reprocessing protocols, such as autoclave, while the fragile sensor and electronics are removed and reused. We believe that such a design would become accessible for routine gynecologic use and could become a vital sign of pelvic health, much like blood pressure is for cardiovascular health.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种新器械，用于精确测量骨盆底强度，为医生提供可靠和可重复的骨盆底健康评估。在美国，每四个女性中就有一个会在一生中经历骨盆底疾病。医生们仍然依靠手指触诊，一种手指挤压试验来评估骨盆底，这种方法的临床可靠性很低。该设备可以检测骨盆底强度的微小变化，并帮助医生在症状出现之前诊断骨盆底疾病。 该项目不仅将专注于该诊断设备的开发，还将开始评估其他专注于骨盆底护理和康复的产品的需求和商业机会。骨盆健康是一个很大程度上服务不足的市场，直到最近才通过几种移动的健康训练辅助工具的商业化获得关注。 该I-Corps项目旨在探索阴道测力计的开发，该阴道测力计基于可重复使用的窥器以及可拆卸的传感器，以评估骨盆底强度。该设备的结果表明，可拆卸传感器设计提供了准确的结果，同时将每次使用成本降低到常规使用的可接受水平。目前骨盆底评估技术的主要限制因素是使用成本。在常规妇科检查中，会阴测量仪、超声和MRI的常规使用成本过高。可拆卸传感器设计允许器械的患者接触部分进行标准再处理方案，例如高压灭菌，同时将易碎的传感器和电子器件移除并重复使用。我们相信这样的设计将成为常规妇科使用，并可能成为盆腔健康的重要标志，就像血压对心血管健康的重要标志一样。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。