Instrument and method for measuring urethral defects in patients with urinary stress incontinence

Abstract

The present method involves the use of a urethral probe, having one tapered end with a silk thread anchored near said tapered end, at about four centimeters from the apex of the taper. The probe is inserted into the urethra while the free end of the thread is held firmly in the examiner's hand. Once the probe has been inserted into the urethra to the point where the attachment of the string is exactly at the external meatus, the examiner holds only the thread, exerting a slight tension on it. (The thread represents a continuation of the unstrained urethral axis.) The patient is then asked to strain. If there is any weakness of urethral support, the instrument is deflected upward. This upward deflection causes the stationary thread to create an angle which is then read directly from a scale, wherein the degree of deflection can be interpretively read in order to determine the degree of deformity of the urethrovesical angle from its normal anatomic position.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.