WO2020190243A2

WO2020190243A2 - An exercise probe for pelvic floor muscles training

Info

Publication number: WO2020190243A2
Application number: PCT/TR2020/050219
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ata ELVAN; Özge ÇELİKER TOSUN; Mehmet Alphan ÇAKIROĞLU
Original assignee: Dokuz Eylül Üni̇versi̇tesi̇ Rektörlüğü
Priority date: 2019-03-18
Filing date: 2020-03-18
Publication date: 2020-09-24
Also published as: TR201903958A2; WO2020190243A3

Abstract

The invention is an exercise probe (10) for (H) pelvic floor muscles training intended for the use of people of both sexes in all age groups who require to strengthen their muscles before the problems likely to be experienced with all disorders (urinary incontinence, gas incontinence, fecal incontinence, sexual function disorders, prolapse of organs etc.) where the muscles (pelvic floor muscles) that cover the bottom of the pelvis are weak and with the loss of muscle strength as a result of aging, characterized in that; it is an equipment for training the pelvic floor muscles (H) with contraction-relaxation movements by placing it in the anus inlets (G) and vaginal inlets (F) of the individuals, it has a form suitable to the anatomy of the region, it has a oval surface (11) on at least one of its end for allowing to make the anus inlet (G) and vaginal inlet (F) easily, when it is at the anus inlet (G) or vaginal inlet (F), it has an elasticity configured such that it undergoes a discontinuous deformation after the contraction and relaxation movement of the pelvic floor muscles (H).

Description

AN EXERCISE PROBE FOR PELVIC FLOOR MUSCLES TRAINING

Technological Field:

The invention relates to an exercise probe for pelvic floor muscles training intended for the usage of people of both sexes in all age groups who require to strengthen their muscles before the problems likely to be experienced with all disorders (urinary incontinence, gas incontinence, fecal incontinence, sexual function disorders, prolapse of organs etc.) where the muscles (pelvic floor muscles) that cover the bottom of the pelvis are weak and with the loss of muscle strength as a result of aging.

State of the Art:

The pelvis of human is like a large bucket which carries weight of the body, head and arms. However the bottom of the pelvis is not closed like the bucket and there is a large opening formed by the bone tissue. This opening namely the bottom portion of the pelvis is closed by the muscles (pelvic floor muscles). There are 3 openings (in men it is 2) in women which pass through these muscles covering the bottom of the pelvis and are surrounded with these muscles. These openings are structures wherein the urinary system, digestion system and reproduction system functions are realized. In case the muscles of this region are healthy and strong, they can be able to control the movements of these openings. When these muscles lose their strength and become weak, the mouth of these openings cannot be closed. When these openings cannot be closed, functional losses happen in the associated region (urine, fecal and gas incontinence, sexual disorders and prolapse of the organs in these regions). The invention subject to description describes an exercise probe which provides to preserve the strength of these muscles as well as to strengthen these muscles gradually in patients where these muscles are weakened.

In the state of the art, in order to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, devices supplying electric current which are placed in the vagina or anus are used. These devices consist of an intra-vaginal or anal probe, a device supplying electric current and electrodes. The probe is placed and by giving electric current, muscle contraction is achieved. Cost of the devices is high. It increases the strength of the pelvic floor muscles to a certain degree only in the individuals who have very weak pelvic floor muscles. It increases the strength of the muscles to mild-moderate degree. It cannot be able to increase the strength of the pelvic floor muscles from mild-moderate degree to good-very good degree. In case it is used in people having pelvic floor muscle strength of moderate degree, it is seen that it is not sufficient to increase the strength of the muscles. In order to apply the device, a specialist health personnel trained in the relevant field is required and besides the patient is also required to be well educated. Intra-vaginal electric current applications may lead to sense of discomfort in some individuals. Since extra equipment is required during the use of the device, it cannot be used in all environments. These type of simulator devices cannot be able to increase the strength of these muscles to the desired value where high level pelvic floor muscle strength is required in the individuals such as sportsman or farmer in many challenging movements and positions of the body. In order to strengthen a muscle, it shall be used in every position and different types of contractions. The electrical simulators only enable isometric contraction of the pelvic floor muscles (a contraction in which the length of the muscle does not change but the tension changes). It does not make an eccentric (contraction made while the length of the muscle is extended) and a concentric (contraction made while the length of the muscle is shortened) contraction. The muscles have to be activated in all three contraction types in order to produce an amount of force which is appropriate to the function. In another method used in the known state of the art, different weight systems which are placed in the vagina are disclosed. There are exercise equipment applications in the form of ball, circle, oval or different shape. These can be considered as weights which are placed in the vagina. The weight of the balls starts from small kilogram values and consist of 2-3 balls with gradually increasing weights. Here the aim is to provide a gradual increase in pelvic floor muscle strength. In order to use the balls, the strength of pelvic floor muscle must be above a determined level. In case the patients can place the ball with the lowest weight in the vagina and can hold it during 1 minute, they can use this. Although weights can be increased gradually since they do not provide different type of muscle contractions, gradual strength gain cannot be obtained since the muscle strength cannot exceed a certain value. In other words, it is difficult to use thereof in pelvic floor muscles with strength at very low and high level. They can only be used while standing. They cannot be used in different positions. However, the pelvic floor muscles can be used in any positions in humans and the muscles must be strengthened in every position. Since it only strengthens the muscle while standing, muscle weakness continues in the other positions. It does not provide a visual warning to the patient. It only make isometric contraction on the pelvic floor muscles, it does not make eccentric and concentric contractions.

US patent document No US2018264259 (A1) is encountered during the literature research made. Said document describes a treatment device which measures the contraction of the muscles in the vagina and transfers this measurement to muscle stimulation device. It has a complex system and comprises high cost elements. It defines an electronic device instead of equipment.

US patent document No US2018132991 (A1) is encountered during the literature research made. In said document, an intra-vaginal device for urine retention control which is designed to be placed in the vagina longitudinally is disclosed. A device intended for urine retention rather than training pelvic muscles is described. There is no statement in relation with training the pelvic muscles. It is a high cost device. It does not have layers with different degrees of hardness.

Consequently, a new exercise apparatus (probe) is required to be developed to be used in pelvic floor muscles training, in which the state of the art is exceeded, the disadvantages are eliminated.

Brief Description of the Invention:

The invention is a new exercise probe developed to be used in training pelvic floor muscles, in which the state of the art is exceeded, the disadvantages are eliminated and additional features are contained.

The aim of the invention is to provide an exercise probe which covers the bottom of the pelvis and is used for developing the strength of these muscles, in order to allow individuals to close the openings (vagina, anus and urinary meatus) passing through the pelvic floor muscles.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide an exercise probe which can be used intravaginally or intra-anally by the individuals themselves without the help of any specialist, can strengthen the pelvic floor muscles by contraction and relaxation movement by placing thereof in the vagina or anus opening.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a new exercise probe for training the pelvic floor muscles which is low cost and has a design which can be developed and to which equipment can be added.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a new exercise probe wherein the individuals can observe the increase in the strength of their pelvic floor muscles and can provide their own progress in strength, in case they work with a healthcare team, they can be easily followed by the relevant healthcare professional.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a new exercise probe which can be used by the people at home, work place and outdoor comfortably at any time. Another aim of the invention is to provide a new exercise probe which can be used by people such as sportsman or farmers etc. who are required to have a very high pelvic floor muscle strength compared to normal people.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a new exercise probe which can be used in every contraction type (isometric, eccentric and concentric) for strengthening the muscle, enables activation of the muscle in all muscle contraction types as isometric (a contraction in which the muscle length does not change but tension changes), eccentric (muscle contraction performed while the length of the muscle is extended) and concentric (contraction performed while the length of the muscle is shortened).

Another aim of the invention is to provide a new exercise probe which can be used in every position (on one’s back, facedown, crawling, sitting, standing, walking and the like) for strengthening the muscle and enables gradual increase in strength in all of the positions.

In order to full all aims mentioned above and obtained from the following detailed description, the invention is an exercise probe for pelvic floor muscles training intended for the use of people of both sexes in all age groups who require to strengthen their muscles before the problems likely to be experienced with all disorders (urinary incontinence, gas incontinence, fecal incontinence, sexual function disorders, prolapse of organs etc.) where the muscles (pelvic floor muscles) that cover the bottom of the pelvis are weak and with the loss of muscle strength as a result of aging, characterized in that; it is an equipment for training the pelvic floor muscles with contraction-relaxation movements by placing it in the anus inlet and vaginal inlet of the individuals, it has a form suitable to the anatomy of the region, it has an oval surface on at least one of its end for allowing to enter the anus inlet and vaginal inlet easily, when it is at the anus or vaginal inlet, it has an elasticity configured such that it undergoes a discontinuous deformation after the contraction and relaxation movement of the pelvic floor muscles. Description of the Figures:

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, thus the characteristics of the invention will be understood clearly. However, the aim of this is not to limit the invention with such determined embodiments. On the contrary, it is aimed to cover all alternatives, amendments and equivalents which may be contained in the field defined by the accompanying claims. It is to be understood that the details shown are only shown for the sake of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and presented for both illustrating the methods and for providing description of the rules of the invention and the conceptual features of the invention to be easily understood.

In these figures;

Figure - 1 is a perspective view of the inventive training probe.

Figure-2A is a side view of the region where the pelvic floor muscles are present in order to show the usage of the exercise probe.

Figure-2A is a bottom view of the region where the pelvic floor muscles are present in order to show the usage of the exercise probe.

Figure-3A is a longitudinal section view of the exercise probe.

Figure-313 is a cross-sectional view of the exercise probe. Figure-3C is a cross-sectional view of the exercise probe showing its deformation.

Figure-4A is a longitudinal section view of an alternative of the exercise probe having layers with different degrees of hardness.

Figure-413 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative of the exercise probe having layers with different degrees of hardness.

Figure-413 is a cross-sectional view of the deformation of an alternative of the exercise probe having layers with different degrees of hardness.

Figure-5 is a side view of an alternative of the exercise probe which has a knurled/curved surface.

Figure-6 is a side view of the use of the exercise probe with the connection element.

Figure-7 is a side view of the use of the exercise probe with an additional device and equipment.

Figure-8 is another side view of the usage with an additional device and equipment. Figure - 9A is a perspective view of an alternative of the exercise probe which can be inflated by means of an air pump.

Figure - 9B is a sectional view of an alternative of the exercise probe which can be inflated by means of an air pump.

The figures which enable to clarify this invention are enumerated as mentioned in the attached figure and they are given with their names herein below.

Description of the References:

10. Exercise probe

11. Oval surface

12. Curved/knurled surface

13. Connection element

14. Power Source

15. Circuit switch

16. Wireless connection kit

17. Force-pressure sensor

18. Energy transmission unit

19. Electrode

20.Air hole

21. Gap

A. Soft layer

B. Hard layer

C. Device

D. Bluetooth connection

E. Wi-Fi connection

F. Vaginal inlet

G. Anus inlet

H. Pelvic floor muscle

Description of the Invention:

In this detailed description, the inventive exercise probe (10) is described by means of examples only for clarifying the subject matter such that no limiting effect is created In the description, an exercise probe (10) for (H) pelvic floor muscles training intended for the use of people of both sexes in all age groups who require to strengthen their muscles before the problems likely to be experienced with all disorders (urinary incontinence, gas incontinence, fecal incontinence, sexual function disorders, prolapse of organs etc.) where the muscles (pelvic floor muscles) that cover the bottom of the pelvis are weak and with the loss of muscle strength as a result of aging.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the inventive exercise probe (10).

Accordingly, the exercise probe (10) is in the form of a bar with a cross section which is appropriate to the anatomy of the pelvis. The individuals train their pelvic floor muscles (H) by performing contraction-relaxation movements after they place the exercise probe (10) at the anus inlet (G) or vaginal inlet (F). The exercise probe (10) comprises oval surface (11) at both ends. Thus it is easily placed to the anus inlet (G) and the vaginal inlet (F). The oval surface (11) mentioned here can only be on one end of the exercise probe (10). Therefore, models which are suitable for single-side or double-side use can be provided.

The exercise probe (10) has an average penis size and it does not cause any sense of discomfort in the regions it is used. The material used in its production is selected according to the required hardness degree in the exercise probe (10). By using, biomaterials with plastic, PVC, silicone content, a wide range of exercise probes (10) with different hardness degrees are provided. Thus, an exercise probe (10) is provided which is suitable to be used by everybody who has weak and strong pelvic floor muscles (H).

In Figure 2A and 2B, there are illustrative views showing the usage of the exercise probe (10). In Figure 2A, the exercise probe (10) is placed into the vaginal inlet (F). Here the user trains the pelvic floor muscles (H) by performing contraction and relaxation movement of pelvic floor muscles (H). In Figure 2B, a view in which the exercise probe (10) is placed in the anus inlet (G) is given. In the figure, the position of the pelvic floor muscles (H) can be seen.

In Figure 3A, a longitudinal section view of an exercise probe (10) with a standard hardness degree is given. The exercise probe (10) mentioned here has only one hardness degree. In Figure 3B, a cross sectional view of the exercise probe (10) with a single hardness degree is given. In Figure 3C, the deformation of the exercise probe (10) after the contraction movement of the pelvic floor muscles (H) is seen. In the exercise probes (10) with high hardness degree, the deformation amount is low, while deformation amount is high in the exercise probes (10) with low hardness degree.

In Figure 4A, a longitudinal section view of an exercise probe (10) which has layers with different hardness degree is given. Accordingly, the exercise probe (10) can comprise a soft layer (A) and a hard layer (B) having two different degrees of hardness in the longitudinal section. Here the aim is that individuals can use exercise probes (10) with different hardness degrees. That is to say, a person whose pelvic floor muscles (H) are weak can strengthen the pelvic floor muscles (H) after using the soft layer (A) with low hardness degree, in order to continue progress, he/she will require to use an exercise probe (10) with higher hardness degree. The individuals in this alternative exercise probe

(10) can used the hard layer (B) with high hardness degree by reversing the exercise probe (10). In Figure 4B, a cross sectional view of the exercise probe (10) with different hardness degree is given. The soft layer (A) and the hard layer (B) having different degrees of hardness are present such that they are intertwined. In Figure 4C, the deformation of the exercise probe (10) with different hardness degrees after the contraction movement of the pelvic floor muscles (H) is seen.

In Figure 5, an alternative view of an exercise probe (10) having a knurled/curved surface (12) is given. The exercise probe (10) can also contain knurled/curved surfaces (12) on the side surface of the exercise probe (10) in order to increase the hardness degree of the surface or increase the amount of stimulation of the pelvic floor muscles (H).

In Figure 6, the view which shows the usage of the exercise probe (10) with the connection element (13) is given. Accordingly, the exercise probe (10) can have a connection element (13) such as spring-chain-elastic material used for attaching accessories which will change the resistance level and various weight equipment.

In Figure 7 a view of an alternative of the exercise probe (10) which can perform data measurement and transmission is given. Accordingly, the exercise probe (10) can measure the contraction-relaxation amount of the pelvic floor muscle (H) of the user with its force- pressure sensor (17). Afterwards, the data obtained can be transmitted to the devices such as phone, tablet and computer

(C) through Wi-Fi connection (E) or Bluetooth connection (D) via a wired or wireless connection kit (16) over an energy transmission unit (18). The required energy for the operation of mentioned elements is provided by a power source (14), and its control is performed by means of a circuit switch (15). In Figure 8, in addition to the alternative exercise probe (10) in Figure 7, there are electrodes (19) on its side surface. Electrodes (19) can receive the muscle contraction signals as an electromyographic data and can perform electrical stimulation.

In Figure 9A, the view of an alternative which allows the exercise probe (10) to be inflated to the required hardness degree is given. In Figure 9B, the cross-sectional view of this alternative is given. Accordingly, the exercise probe (10) is configured in a form which contains gap (21) inside and it can be inflated until it reaches to the required hardness degree by means of an air hole (20) positioned on the end portion. Therefore, it is allowed to work with an exercise probe (10) at different hardness degrees.

Claims

1- An exercise probe (10) for (H) pelvic floor muscles training intended for the use of people of both sexes in all age groups who require to strengthen their muscles before the problems likely to be experienced with all disorders (urinary incontinence, gas incontinence, fecal incontinence, sexual function disorders, prolapse of organs etc.) where the muscles (pelvic floor muscles) that cover the bottom of the pelvis are weak and with the loss of muscle strength as a result of aging, characterized in that;

- it is an equipment which has a form suitable to the anatomy of the region for training the pelvic floor muscles (H) with contraction-relaxation movements by placing it in the anus inlet (G) and vaginal inlet (F) of the individuals,

- it has an oval surface (11) on at least one of its end for allowing to make easy entry to the anus inlet (G) and vaginal inlet (F),

-when it is at the anus inlet (G) or vaginal inlet (F), it has an elasticity configured such that it undergoes a discontinuous deformation after the contraction and relaxation movement of the pelvic floor muscles (H).

2- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that its body is configured to have a single degree of hardness.

3- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that it is configured to have a soft layer (A) and a hard layer (B) having different degrees of hardness from each other in the longitudinal section of the body.

4- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it is configured to contain a soft layer (A) and hard layer (B) with different hardness degrees from each other in the cross section of its body.

5- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it has knurled/curved surfaces (12) on its side surfaces in order to reach different hardness degrees and stimulate the pelvic floor muscles (H). 6- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it has a connection element (13) on one end in the form of spring-chain-elastic material used for attaching various weight equipment and accessories which will change the resistance level.

7- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a pressure-force sensor on it (17) which determines the contraction-relaxation force data of the pelvic floor muscle (H).

8- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a wireless connection kit (16) which transmits the data coming from the force-pressure sensor (17) to the devices (C) such as phone, tablet or computer by means of Wi-Fi (E) and Bluetooth (D) network connections.

9- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises an energy transmission unit (18) which transmits the data coming from the force-pressure sensor (17) to the devices (C) such as phone, tablet or computer in a wired manner.

10- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises at least one electrode (19) which can receive the muscle contraction signals on its side surface and can perform electrical stimulation.

11- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it comprises a force- pressure sensor (17), wireless connection kit (16), energy transmission unit (18), power source (14) and a circuit switch (15) which controls the operation of the electrodes (19).

12- An exercise probe (10) according to claim 1 , characterized in that; it has an air hole (20) which is configured to have a gap (21) inside for using with different hardness degrees, through which said gap (21) is inflated by means of a pump.