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Multidirectional Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength Measurement

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Abstract

Pelvic floor muscle (PFM) strength measurement provides useful information for the study of pelvic floor dysfunctions. Vaginal digital palpation, intravaginal pressure measurements, and the use of a dynamometric speculum represent currently available clinical methods for evaluating PFM strength. However, none of these methods provide a dynamic measurement of pelvic floor strength in multiple directions simultaneously. The aim of the present paper is to report the development and first measurement trial of a device that follows the vaginal canal morphology and is able to measure pelvic floor strength multidirectionally.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support of CNPq, CAPES, and FAPEMIG is gratefully acknowledged. The authors wish to thank technical help of Dr. Jorge Saffar (Setor Testes Físicos, CETEC-MG), Eng. Alexandre Araújo (BIOS Eletrônica e Informática Ltda.), and Mr. João Batista (Oficina da Física/UFMG).

Ethical Issues—Research authorization. The present research was approved by the UFMG Ethics Committee (COEP-UFMG n° 289/06) and was registered in the Brazilian National System of Ethics Committee (SISNEP) as CAAE—0289.0.203.000-06.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioengineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Cristina S. Saleme, Daniel N. Rocha, Sara Del Vecchio & Marcos Pinotti

  2. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Agnaldo L. Silva Filho

Authors
  1. Cristina S. Saleme
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  2. Daniel N. Rocha
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  3. Sara Del Vecchio
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  4. Agnaldo L. Silva Filho
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  5. Marcos Pinotti
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Correspondence to Marcos Pinotti.

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Saleme, C.S., Rocha, D.N., Del Vecchio, S. et al. Multidirectional Pelvic Floor Muscle Strength Measurement. Ann Biomed Eng 37, 1594–1600 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-009-9728-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-009-9728-8

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