TWO TYPES OF DILATORS, I.

TWO TYPES OF DILATORS, I.E., A VIBRATIONAL EXPANDABLE, MECHANICALLY DRIVEN BOUGIE AND A MANUALLY EXPANDABLE BOUGIE,HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AND PRODUCED IN METAL AND PLASTIC VERSIONS. THIS STUDY WILL DEAL WITH THE EFFECT OF VIBRATIONMASSAGE ON THE URETHRA, SURROUNDING TISSUE, AND THE DETRUSOR. THIS WORK, IN ITS FIRST STAGE, WILL INCLUDE ANIMAL STUDY, WHICH IS BASED ON THE URODYNAMIC MEASUREMENTS.ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS OBTAINED IN THE ANIMAL STUDY WILL BEUSED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THERAPEUTIC PARAMETERS OF VIBRATION FOR HUMAN SUBJECTS, AS WELL AS FOR THE OPTIMIZA- TION OF THE DESIGN OF THE INSTRUMENT. THE POTENTIALS OF THEUSE OF THE VIBRATIONAL TYPE INSTRUMENT FOR TREATING STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE, UNSTABLE BLADDER, AND URETHRAL SYNDROME WILL BE STUDIED. SIMILARLY, THE POTENTIALS OF THE MANUALLY EXPANDABLE BOUGIE WILL BE EVALUATED FOR THE TREAT- MENT OF PATIENTS WITH URETHRAL STRICTURES AND FOR THE DILATION OF THE URETHRA PRIOR TO TRANSURETHRAL RESECTIONS. THE TECHNICAL ASPECT OF THE STUDY WILL INCLUDE FATIGUE TEST OF METAL AND PLASTIC BOUGIES AND CONSTRUCTION OF FINAL PRE- PRODUCTION PROTOTYPES. A SERIES OF DISPOSABLE INSTRUMENTS OF BOTH TYPES WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO SEVERAL MEDICAL CENTERS FOR FURTHER EVALUATION.