Women’s healthcare specialist wins Bionow award for pelvic floor muscle trainer

A pelvic floor muscle trainer has won ‘Product of the Year’ at the Bionow Awards.

Femeda’s muscle trainer called Pelviva, which contains reactive pulse technology (RPT), was launched in October 2018 and is aimed to be used for the treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) in women.

Andrew Tasker, CEO of women’s healthcare specialist Femeda said: “It is a great achievement to have won this award. This recognises the result of ten years of research and development to bring to market a highly consumer acceptable medical device which delivers a clinically proven treatment, addressing the biggest unmet need in female health. The unique development is the result of combining advanced research and patents from the University of Manchester with Femeda product development to deliver a product that meets patient needs. This is one of the most prestigious Awards in the North for a life science business and one of the top Awards in the UK. It’s the first time a consumer medical device has won the Award and a great achievement against some exceptional competition and innovation across the regions. It is a credit to the close teamwork that has become integral to how we work in the business, and which has driven our successful launch.

"A third of all women suffer from bladder leakage and Pelviva is the first product of its kind that is really easy to use and is clinically proven to treat bladder leaks Pelviva is a pioneering medical device that will have a life-changing impact on women’s quality of life.”

Pelviva incorporates a pattern of neuromuscular electrical stimulation using a programme developed by Professor Oldham at The University of Manchester. Each device contains a microprocessor that delivers RPT to the pelvic floor muscles. The Pelviva reactive pulse mimics the way the body works naturally, causing the pelvic floor muscles to contract. This helps restore speed and strength to the power fibres, to prevent bladder leakage when women cough, laugh, sneeze or exercise. It also re-trains the endurance fibres to hold on when a woman urgently needs the toilet.

The product is made of a body responsive foam, which adapts to every woman’s individual shape. The Pelviva RPT delivers a series of reactive pulses every alternate 10 seconds, to stimulate the pelvic floor muscles. Each 30-minute treatment using the Pelviva stimulation programme delivers up to 25% greater penetration of the deep pelvic muscle than conventional stimulation.