Custom-made vaginal balloons for strengthening circumvaginal musculature.
A technique for making individualized silicone rubber intravaginal balloons is described. The method entails investing alginate vaginal impressions in silicone rubber and casting a resin model which is then dipped repeatedly in a Silastic Dispersion (Dow Corning, Q7-2213). The range of forces developed by circumvaginal muscles during maximum contractions was determined to be 0.5-4 lbs. Pressure-volume relationships of the balloons showed that the pressure of filling fluid was an accurate replica of the mean pressure in the vagina.
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D011312:Pressure; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000628:therapy*; D014621:Vagina