Investigational Device. Limited by Federal (U.S.) Law to Investigational Use. This product has not been reviewed or approved by the FDA.
Tools that record muscle activity
HillMed is a Houston company. We are developing two devices that record the small electrical signals muscles make when they tighten and relax.
Join the interest listIn development. Not for sale. Not cleared or approved by the FDA or any other regulator.
Recording several
muscles at once
Muscles make small electrical signals when they work. Sensors record these signals and show them as a line on a screen.
Recording several muscles at once shows which muscle is doing the work. Press and hold the button to squeeze the pelvic floor. Tick the box and a hip muscle joins in.
Resting.
Two devices
One device is being designed for pelvic floor muscle training at home. The other is being designed for muscle research.
HomeTrainer
8 channels
- Pelvic floor muscle training at home
- 4 channels from a small vaginal probe
- 4 channels from stick-on skin sensors on hip, buttock, thigh or belly muscles
- A phone app is being designed to show when another muscle tightens in place of the pelvic floor
- A pelvic health clinician would set each program and review each session
The 64-channel system
64 channels
- Research on the pelvic floor, trunk and limbs, including stroke rehabilitation
- A sensor grid, a pelvic floor probe or stick-on skin sensors
- Maps of where a muscle is active
- Single motor units and where nerves join a muscle
- Networks of muscles that work together
How it works
Our devices record muscle signals from many points at the same time. Each sensor reads the signal under it, and no needles are used. Software is being designed to turn the signals into pictures.
How our technology worksA sensor grid sits on the skin over one muscle. A small probe, placed in the vagina or rectum, records the pelvic floor muscles. Stick-on skin sensors record nearby muscles, one pair per muscle.
A color map shows which part of a muscle is working. With the probe, the map shows the pelvic floor from front to back.
A motor unit is one nerve cell and the muscle fibers it controls. The software is being designed to pick out single motor units and where their nerves join the muscle.
The software is being designed to measure how closely muscles work together and to group them into networks.
Partners and funding
HillMed is a Houston company. Our technology was first developed at the University of Houston and is licensed exclusively to HillMed. We work with research teams at the University of Miami, the University of Washington, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist and TIRR Memorial Hermann. Their studies include pelvic floor muscles in long-term pelvic pain and bladder pain syndrome, the effects of aging and childbirth on the anal sphincter, pelvic floor weakness in women who leak urine, and muscle stiffness after stroke. The National Institutes of Health awarded HillMed a Small Business Innovation Research grant to develop our technology for pelvic floor disorders. Read about our partners and funding.
Stay in touch
Clinicians and researchers can join our interest list. We will contact you when a demonstration is ready. You can also tell us if you would like to give feedback on a prototype or take part in future studies.