(291) NOVEL PENILE TUMESCENCE MONITORING DEVICE OBJECTIVELY DEMONSTRATES SHORTER-LASTING SPONTANEOUS ERECTIONS IN MEN WITH ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

Abstract Introduction Tools to assess a man’s erectile function (EF) are currently limited. The Sexual Health Inventory of Men (SHIM) is a validated questionnaire that is easy to administer, but suffers from significant subjectivity, need for patient to actively attempt intercourse, and inability to distinguish vasculogenic from psychogenic erectile dysfunction (ED). Penile Doppler ultrasound (US) can provide objective measurements of cavernosal arterial blood flow, but suffers from high cost, invasiveness, and unreliability in the setting of suboptimal erections. The presence of nocturnal, spontaneous erections is considered a marker of EF, but is difficult to objectively measure. The FirmTech Tech Ring is a novel penile constriction ring with built-in sensors that connect with a smartphone app to record the number and duration of erections. Objective We conducted a small pilot study to assess the utility of the FirmTech Tech Ring to measure the quality of spontaneous, overnight erections in men. Methods Following Institutional Review Board approval, 9 male patients (aged 23–82 years) presenting to a Men’s Health clinic were recruited. 7 patients endorsed ED and 2 patients denied ED. Each patient was asked to fill out a SHIM, then provided with a device and asked to wear it overnight while asleep. Data were collected through the smartphone app and sent to a centralized database. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between SHIM scores and erection parameters. 1-way ANOVA was used to compare the +ED and -ED groups. Results There were no significant correlations between SHIM scores and the measured parameters (# of overnight spontaneous erections; average duration of each erection). However, when comparing the +ED group against the -ED group, the former had significantly shorter average duration of erections (23.8 min vs. 38.9 min, p = 0.018). The number of spontaneous erections/night did not differ between the +ED and -ED groups (2.67 vs. 3, p = 0.77). Conclusions We report preliminary data suggesting that the FirmTech Tech Ring may be a convenient, noninvasive tool to objectively measure patients’ EF. Despite the small sample size, we noted that patients with self-reported ED had significantly shorter duration of spontaneous erections compared to patients who denied ED. Additionally, the # and duration of erections have no correlation with SHIM scores, highlighting the latter’s limitation in assessing a patient’s EF. However, further studies with larger patient cohorts, with various severities of ED and comparison against penile Doppler US results, are needed to validate these findings. Disclosure Yes, this is sponsored by industry/sponsor: FirmTech Inc. Clarification: Industry funding only - investigator initiated and executed study. Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: FirmTech Inc.