Urinary incontinence is a rather complicated problem. In particular, the disease usually makes people feel ashamed and can't lift their heads. Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that urinary incontinence is more common in older people: more than half of the elderly in the United States over 65 have urinary incontinence. However, urinary incontinence does not only threaten the health of the elderly. Whether male or female, young or old, anyone has the possibility of urinary incontinence. At present, we do not have many means to manage such diseases. Usually, patients choose to use adult diapers or undergo surgery.
Jean Rintoul wants to provide other solutions for patients with chronic urinary incontinence. Retur is the CEO of Lir ScienTIfic, which produces a new wearable device called Brightly. At present, the market size of adult diapers has reached 17 billion US dollars, and Brightly equipment hopes to hit this market.
Brightly looks like a belt and has a built-in biosensor that can observe the expansion of the bladder in a non-invasive way. It can send a warning to the user's smartphone via Bluetooth technology, and remind the user in advance that it is time to urinate.
"We want to help patients with chronic urinary incontinence recover some dignity and independence," said Retur. "President has worked for many wearable devices companies, including Intel's use of EEG technology to develop brain-computer interface devices. Basis and EmoTIv.
In addition to its unique use, Brightly is also quite different from other wearables for other reasons. Silicon Valley startups often target target users to wealthy young people between the ages of 20 and 30, which has been widely criticized by society. Compared to young people, the market for chronic urinary incontinence, which is dominated by the elderly, is much less attractive to startups. Even so, Retul is firmly committed to this cause and is working hard to serve these patients. More importantly, she chose to address the problems caused by chronic medical illnesses rather than using wearable devices to make it easier for consumers. So Retul may slowly solve a problem that few other technology companies can't solve: making wearables really useful.
Useful wearable device
A few years ago, Retur began to participate in the medical programming marathon and began reading peer review studies. She hopes to find a new medical wearable device that combines advanced technology with an excellent concept. Bioelectrical impedance spectrum technology can emit weak electrical signals to the human body, and then use electrical signals to detect subtle changes in organ tissues in the human body through non-invasive methods. After studying this technique carefully, Retul had inspiration. She said: "I found that the bladder can be easily observed using bioelectrical impedance spectrum technology, because the bladder itself is a large balloon made of conductive material. The electrical signals of the bladder are different each time it expands and contracts."
Ritu's father had prostate cancer, and this experience led her to focus on urinary incontinence. In general, patients who have undergone surgery for prostate cancer are at higher risk of developing urinary incontinence. After being determined to solve the problem of urinary incontinence, she found two colleagues who had previously met in the HAX project (the hardware startup incubator project, which was launched simultaneously in San Francisco and Shenzhen). They completed the development of prototype equipment in China, and then began looking for volunteers to conduct equipment testing.
Currently, LirScienTIfic temporarily sets Brightly's price at $400. This price seems a bit expensive, but it is much cheaper than the ultrasound equipment used in hospitals (selling for tens of thousands of dollars). And the equipment used in the hospital is very cumbersome, far less than Brightly.
Broad development prospects
Retul admits that her startup is still in its infancy. At present, her company has just received feedback data from the small-scale test of the equipment, and the concept of publicity is only a few weeks ago. The company's next step is to work with urologists to conduct pilot trials. Retul also wants to test her equipment in the hospital because Brightly can signal the nurse before the patient needs to go to the toilet. She pointed out that patients with bedwetting can cause acne, and the number of patients who die from acne has increased year after year.
Anne Suskind, assistant professor of urology at the University of California, San Francisco, has some doubts about Retul's products. She believes that this device may play a greater role in helping patients with urinary incontinence to go to the toilet regularly. In other words, the patient can use Brightly to manually set the warning. After the time, the device will give a reminder to remind the patient to go to the toilet. She said: "If you can know how long the bladder can accumulate urine, you can go to the toilet regularly to empty the bladder. Although the time interval between going to the toilet is not necessarily the same, but about the time, the patient will know. ""
But in the eyes of Retul, the area in which this technology can work is far more than the issue of urinary incontinence. The application of detecting the changes of organ tissues in the human body is very wide, and it can not only emit heat in the field of basic medical imaging, but also play a role in exercise and fitness, such as using imaging technology to detect lung expansion.
Regardless of whether consumers can widely accept their products, Reitall is satisfied. At least, she is engaged in a career full of conviction. “The goal of some startups seems to be to compete in a small area of ​​innovation (the competition participants are looking for the highest rate of return, at the expense of morality and breaking the rules),†she said. “We want to have our own technology. The broader stage, especially hopes to help the elderly. After all, all of us have an old age."
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