Patent ID: 7645220

Claim:
A probe receivable within a pelvic cavity for sensing contraction pressure applied by pelvic floor muscles, comprising: an elongated shaft having an external surface portion; a transducer including a distributed sensing arrangement provided by a sensing body extending lengthwise and circumferentially in overlapping relation along the external surface portion of the shaft; the sensing body including a plurality of variable impedance elements capable of exhibiting a change in electrical impedance in response to pelvic floor muscle contractions against the sensing body, the variable impedance elements being distributed around and lengthwise along a portion of the sensing body; a dielectric insulating material forming a portion of the sensing body and being disposed between the pelvic cavity and the plurality of variable impedance elements, such that the variable impedance elements are disposed at an external surface of the sensing body; and a signal processor circuit disposed in the probe and electrically coupled to the variable impedance elements for producing a feedback signal in response to the electrical impedance exhibited by the variable impedance elements.