Ellis Developments Limited

Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

NuTaP Project and Urinary Incontinence

NuTaP was a Foresight Link Project started in October 2001 and is now completed.

It had the aim of producing a prototype state-of-the-art urine collection system, to assist patients suffering from intractable urinary incontinence. Currently there were no Biomaterials available for use specifically in the urinary tract, that are designed to be resistant to surface encrustation, particularly from Proteus mirabilis. In this project a suitable material will be developed that can be used as a coating on all catheters, thus eliminating the problem of blocking catheters. The second innovative area is the Microsystems, using nanotechnology to control the cycle of bladder filling/emptying and to monitor urinary pH. Specifically a new microvalve will need to be designed that can fit within a 5 mm diameter catheter, will open at the required pressure, enable the bladder to completely empty, and then close. This will be combined with a pressure die and pH sensor, both at sub micron accuracies, to produce an intelligent catheter. The proposed new system design will address these issues, resulting in a significant improvement in the quality of life for patients, and also a substantial reduction in NHS costs.

We have developed a new approach to superpubic port development, to replace the Mitrofanoff procedure.

Ellis Developments Ltd was one of a number of companies collaborating in this project. Please contact us if you wish to know more.

Julian Ellis will be delighted to hear from you. Telephone on +44 (0) 1636  812100

email: info@ellisdev.co.uk We are based at The Stables, Hall Farm, Kirklington, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG22 8NN, United Kingdom