Exploring Clinical Utility of Wearables for the Bladder in Pelvic Health Physical Therapy Clinics

Summary

Pelvic health physical therapy (PHPT) is an evidence-based intervention for bladder dysfunction (BD) and pelvic floor disorders (PFD) in men postprostatectomy, and postpartum women. However, there is a dearth of objective outcome measures - in particular, those that can capture changes remotely, between clinic visits. In other domains, such as physical activity, wearable digital devices have started to fill this gap. The investigators aim to evaluate if commercially available wearables for the bladder (WeB) can provide valid, objective outcomes to evaluate, monitor and treat people with BD and PFD. The WeB toolkit, comprising a wearable bladder ultrasound device and an intravaginal exerciser (women only), eventually aims to provide real-world, actionable data to both users and healthcare providers, thereby improving patient outcomes through closed-loop interventions. Preliminary studies in women with multiple sclerosis have shown strong associations with gold-standard clinical measures, suggesting that WeB tools could revolutionize care for these patients. However, the effectiveness of these tools in a wider range of patient demographics, especially postpartum women, and men, has yet to be established. The investigators seeks to extend the promising pilot findings to these additional 'special' populations seen in the PHPT clinic. The investigators hypothesize that the WeB tools will retain their accuracy and utility across these diverse groups. The investigators plan to i) validate WeB in these special populations against gold-standard clinical measures for BD, ii) evaluate the responsiveness of WeB tools to changes in outcomes before and after PHPT and iii) assess user experience in these populations. By ensuring the WeB tools' broad applicability, this research seeks to close the gap in continuous care and enable objective, personalized treatment strategies. The outcomes will have significant implications for the management of BD and PFD, potentially offering a more inclusive and empowering approach to patient care in women postpartum and men post-prostatectomy.

Conditions

• Postpartum Bladder Dysfunction
• Post-prostatectomy Bladder Dysfunction
• Bladder Dysfunction

Interventions

OTHER

DFree Non-Invasive Bladder Ultrasound

For patient participants: The DFree is used to monitor the bladder fullness and track changes in the bladder fullness over time using an application on a mobile device. It is placed over the lower abdomen using an adhesive patch.

OTHER

Perifit Kegel Exerciser

For (female) patient participants: The Perifit uses a bluetooth connection with mobile devices to allow contractions and relaxation from internal pelvic floor muscles to control video games. It measures the force and duration of contractions.

OTHER

Exit interview

All participants will be asked to complete modified Health IT Usability Evaluation Model (Health-ITUEM) surveys, to evaluate bladder wearable devices in these populations

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, San Francisco

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Valerie Block, PT, DPTSc · University of California, San Francisco

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-07-11

Primary Completion

2026-07-31

Completion

2026-07-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations