The Urinary Incontinence ( Ui ) Device Market

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Due to the breadth of the female urinary incontinence (UI) device market, categorizing it can aid in better understanding it. The first distinction to be made is between products which are designed to prevent urinary incontinence episodes, and those which are designed to manage them. Within the former category, exist products such as pharmaceuticals, surgical options, bulking agents, nerve stimulation devices, bladder supports and inserts. Within the UI management device category, we find devices which are more commonly associated with incontinence: absorbents, such as diapers and briefs, and indwelling drainage devices, such as catheters. While not discussed in this section, the GR Dome UriCap-F would fall into this management category as well. A table depicting this categorization can be seen in Figure 1.

Pharmaceuticals
For UI, pharmaceuticals are typically used to alleviate urge incontinence and overactive bladder for all ages. These products are generally in pill or patch form and inhibit involuntary detrusor contractions[1]. The market is rather large, at $5 billion annually, and is expected to have strong growth[2]. The big players in the UI pharmaceutical market are Pfizer with their Detrol product, Johnson and Johnson with their Ditropan product, GlaxoSmithKline with Vesicare, Novartis with Enablex and Watson with Oxytrol. The name brand products typically cost around $94-212/month [3]. However, generics do exist and typically cost somewhere between $24-36 per month [4]. While these products are non-invasive and can device free, resulting in a great degree of freedom, so drawbacks do exist. The name brand products can be relatively expensive, and the side effects caused by the drugs can include dry mouth, rash, constip...

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...lderly but recent trends show them rolling out ad campaigns targeted at younger audiences.

Catheters, on the other hand, are the go-to device in hospitals. Actually, they may be overused in hospitals due to the lack of suitable alternatives and because of the tight hold the industry leader (Bard) has on the market. Catheters are the known device in the medical world, have a long history, are prevalent in the distribution channel, have reimbursement codes set up and are trusted. However, CAUTI is a real and costly problem with catheters which could potentially make a suitable alternative attractive, if brought to the market properly.

Finally, it should be mentioned that during the research conducted on competitive and substitute UI devices, nothing similar to the UriCap-F was found. An non-invasive, exdwelling female urine drainage device is truly novel to industry.

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