Pump-Free Penile Prosthesis Can Work, Early Study Shows

[powertx]

Have you guys seen this? (sorry if it was posted before)


A pump-free and touchless method of activating a nonhydraulic penile prosthesis seems to perform as well as any hydraulic inflatable prosthesis, and would be much easier for the patient to use and for urologists to implant, an ex vivo study suggests.

"Mechanical devices can malfunction and require revision, which is a negative event for patients," said Kevin McVary, MD, from the Southern Illinois School of Medicine in Springfield.

"Our plan is to prevent such malfunctions," he told Medscape Medical News. And the new device "would make one of the more complex procedures that urologists do one of the easiest, so it could actually be transformative."

In their study, Dr McVary and his colleagues demonstrated that they could repeatedly activate the penile prostheses without pumps or reservoirs.

He presented the results at the American Urological Association 2015 Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

The team used a nonhydraulic shape-memory alloy 22 cm (8.6 inch)-penile prosthesis made out of nitinol, a metal alloy of nickel and titanium commonly used in medical devices. A 1000 W Mini-Ductor II (Induction Innovations, Inc.) and a coil 2.5 cm (1 inch) in diameter was used to activate the prosthesis.

The perpendicular force required to induce the prosthesis to transition from the flaccid to erect configuration was 0.3 kgf, which is comparable to the force required for an inflatable prostheses, Dr McVary reported.

The fully activated device resisted buckling forces of 2.66 kgf, meaning that on penetration, the prosthesis will not buckle or bend and should remain as rigid as current inflatable devices, he explained.


Even if malfunction rates with the hydraulic implants are quite low, "the data from this abstract show that when rigidity is achieved, the level of hardness that this implant provides is as good as or better than what we currently have," he said.

"My hope is that because it's a simple unit, it will be embraced by many urologists who are using the multicomponent implants now," he explained. If it is, "more patients who are good candidates for this procedure would be able to benefit from an easy-to-use cosmetically appealing prosthesis that would enhance their quality of life dramatically."

This study was funded by American Medical Systems and by a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. Dr McVary and Dr Bar-Chama have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

American Urological Association (AUA) 2015 Annual Meeting: Abstract PD26-03 Presented May 17, 2015.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/845 ... _tpal#vp_2

[dg_moore]

And it can be activated by Bluetooth! If this becomes part of the Internet of Things, imagine the consequences of hacking!If some studly guy steals your gal, you can deflate him at a crucial moment, as one example.

[avlis26]

Wow!! That's cool!! It's great to know medicine is advancing in these studies for new penile prosthesis.

[KMeister]

I'm waiting for the next step--remote control!

KM

[billylee]

I'm waiting for the next step--remote control!

KM

My wife has commented several times that she would like a remote......so she could "turn me off". Now she just says, "put that thing up". Ha.

[activesurveillance]

Unfortunately new advances in penile implant technology never get commercialized. Meanwhile we are stuck with a 50 yr old hydraulic system where anyone with any tactile impairment could never find the deflate button.