Patent ID: 8444571
Filing Date: 2013-05-21
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A non-invasive method for measuring a bulbocavernosus reflex, comprising: providing a probe comprising: (i) a housing with a bore therethrough, said housing containing a piezoelectric disk, said disk electrically connected to an amplifier and activated by a power source; (ii) a stimulus plunger having first and second ends and havng a shaft that extends through the bore, said shaft being movable along a longtidunal axis and having an expanded portion that prevents the stimulus plunger from sliding out of an opening in the housing; and (iii) a compression spring that biases said second end of the stimulus plunger away from contact with the piezoelectric disk; wherein when the probe is positioned so that a non-invasive contact of the stimulus plunger and a predetermined patient genital area occurs, the contact results in pressure from the stimulus plunger being transmitted to the genital area for inducing a bulbocavernosus reflex; activating the piezoelectric disk for the probe for generating an electromagnetic response indicative of the contact; using the response to identify a collection of electrical responses from a plurality of electrodes placed on the patient skin adjacent to the genital area, the collection being indicative of the bulbocavernosus reflex; wherein said method is employed to diagnose dysfunctions selected from the group consisting of spinal cord abnormalities, bladder voiding dysfunction, and sexual organ dysfunction.