Date: Jul 07, 2015 Source: PR Newswire (
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New non-invasive wearable medical device treats the one in three women suffering from stress urinary incontinence.
The federal SBIR program is a very competitive process, so the support validates the clinical interest, positive social impact, and technological soundness of our approach." said Gloria Kolb, founder and CEO of Elidah.
Elidah, an innovative startup medical device manufacturer, today announced it was awarded funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the State of Connecticut to accelerate development of its wearable therapeutic device that can treat the millions of women suffering from stress urinary incontinence. The product provides a non-invasive solution for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles and reducing bladder leakage. Elidah's technologies offer substantial benefits over conventional incontinence treatment devices by improving patient adoption, compliance and outcomes.
Connecticut based funding was awarded through the CTNext program, in which Elidah was selected from among 40 applicant companies.
"These awards have immediate impact in accelerating product development activity and getting treatment to patients," said Kolb. Further validation comes from recent human use data that demonstrates significant improvement in incontinence symptoms, findings that will be presented at the International Continence Society meeting in Montreal in October 2015.
Stress urinary incontinence is a widely prevalent condition, affecting one in three women, and has physical, social, and economic implications. Conventional treatments including pelvic floor exercises and invasive intravaginal electrical stimulation have poor patient adoption and compliance, and surgical procedures have inherent risks and are reserved for only the most severe cases. With limited options, most women forego treatment, electing to suffer quietly while their incontinence symptoms worsen. Elidah aims to deliver better products for women and is integrating recent advances in wearable devices, biomaterials and mobile interfaces to deliver a wearable therapeutic solution aimed at significantly improving patient adoption, compliance and clinical outcomes.
About Elidah
Founded in 2014, Elidah designs and markets innovative medical devices that treat incontinence. Its technology delivers effective treatment modalities in wearable form factors that enhance patient engagement and ease of use, leading to higher adoption and compliance rates and improved clinical outcomes. Elidah's product for female stress urinary incontinence is expected to be available in the US in 2016. Elidah is led by an experienced management team including entrepreneur Gloria Kolb, Founder and CEO, whose previous accolades include Boston's 40 under 40 and MIT Technology Review's World Top Innovators Under 35 (TR35). http://www.elidah.com
About the National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs
At the National Science Foundation (NSF), Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) is an approximately $160 million program that catalyzes the commercialization of high-risk technological innovations via research and development grants to small businesses and startups. NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $7 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.
