DENVER, CO USA (Press Release) - May 8, 2012 - Touch of Life Technologies (ToLTech) has developed a virtual reality-based cystoscopy simulator to train and evaluate urologists on the procedure of injecting BOTOX® (onabotulinumtoxinA) into the detrusor muscle of the bladder to treat leakage of urine (incontinence) in adults with overactive bladder due to neurologic condition.
Candidates would include adults with conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) or spinal cord injury (SCI)--who still have leakage or experience too many side effects after trying an anticholinergic medication.1 BOTOX® was approved in August of 2011 by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for this indication.
“The cystoscopy and injection trainer manipulates image data to simulate the look and feel of a human bladder so that the physician/user actually ‘feels’ the resistance to the needle as it penetrates the detrusor muscle of the bladder wall,” said Vic Spitzer, CEO of ToLTech. “The bladder is the proper volume and is inflated to the appropriate wall tension that would exist in candidates for this procedure. The simulator provides urologists with a realistic and accurate training method to help them become experienced at injecting BOTOX® into the bladder.”
Newest Medical Procedure Simulator
The cystoscopy trainer is the latest in a series of anatomically detailed, high-end medical procedure simulators from ToLTech. The simulator was developed to support global health care company Allergan’s commitment to educate and train urologists on the proper technique for injecting BOTOX® to treat incontinence in adults with overactive bladder due to neurologic condition as a second-line treatment when anticholinergic medications have failed or were intolerable. The simulator and injection procedures comply with the instructions for use outlined in the product label approved by the FDA for this BOTOX® indication.
“Allergan’s commitment to bringing forth novel treatment options for urologists and their patients extends to providing comprehensive physician education and hands-on training,” said Lori Lyons, Allergan Senior Director of Marketing, Urology. “We are pleased to have the ToLTech training simulator as a part of Allergan’s overall training platform as it provides urologists with a technologically-advanced method to gain experience with injecting BOTOX® into the detrusor muscle of the bladder as a treatment for refractory urinary incontinence in adults with overactive bladder due to an underlying neurological condition.”
ToLTech’s interactive products are based on photographic images from the National Library of Medicine’s Visible Human Project® and similar higher resolution images. The sensation of feeling is provided by Geomagic (formerly Sensable Technologies) Phantom®, a highly-developed force-feedback device interacting with these high-resolution images using custom-developed ToLTech algorithms. The simulator is designed to be lightweight for portability and incorporates an all-in-one computer with the ToLTech interface to the clinical cystoscope.
About ToLTech
Touch of Life Technologies is a medical education company that develops and sells interactive software and medical procedure simulators. ToLTech products provide a virtual learning environment combining state-of-the-art interactive technology with real anatomy from the National Library of Medicine’s Visible Human Project® as well as higher resolution images. In business more than a decade, Touch of Life Technologies (www.toltech.net) collaborates with professional medical societies, educators and practicing professionals to create and test next-generation tools to educate and train a wide range of healthcare professionals and students. For more information, visit www.toltech.net or call 720-859-4140.
Contact:
Peggy Gonder, (303-321-3465)
Gonder Public Relations
Christine Meyer (303-628-3297)
Gonder Public Relations