In the UK, approximately 1,000 people a year sustain a spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injuries are caused by a range of events, from road accidents to sports activities. Most spinal cord injuries result in paralysis of parts of the body; the higher up the spine the injury was sustained, the greater the loss of function. Approximately 40,000 people in the UK alone are thought to have spinal cord injuries.
As a result of these injuries, people are frequently left with no control of the bladder function.
Finetech Medical produces a range of long-term implantable neuromuscular stimulators to restore function after neurological injury. One such product is the Finetech-Brindley Bladder System (previously branded as Vocare in the United States), as this helps to restore bladder and bowel functions.
Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) can be used to produce contractions in paralysed muscles. Finetech Medical’s implant delivers small electrical pulses to the nerves that supply the paralysed muscles, causing them to contract. An external, wireless device is used to control the implant and its function.
Learn more about the Finetech-Brindley Bladder System.