# Long Term Genital Nerve Stimulation to Improve Urinary Continence

> **NIH VA I01** · LOUIS STOKES CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · —

## Abstract

Neurogenic bladder dysfunction after neurologic disease or injury such as spinal cord injury (SCI) can lead
to bladder hyper-reflexia where the bladder reflexively contracts repeatedly at small bladder volumes. Bladder
hyper-reflexia can trigger autonomic dysreflexia, result in incontinence, urinary tract infections, renal damage
and decreased independence and quality of life. Our long-term goal is to develop and clinically implement a
“bladder pacemaker” able to restore bladder continence for veterans with SCI.
 Electrical stimulation of the sensory genital nerves inhibits the spinal neural circuits involved in hyper-
reflexive bladder spasms. Genital nerve stimulation (GNS) has been used by multiple groups to inhibit reflexive
neurogenic bladder contractions during acute (1 visit) urodynamic testing. However, the effectiveness of
stimulation of sensory pathways can habituate or decrease with repetitive activation. We have recently 
demonstrated that surface GNS inhibits reflexive bladder contractions and reduces incontinence in individuals
with SCI during one month of home use using a limited stimulation system. Veteran feedback from these
studies identified a number of stimulation system issues that negatively impacted activities of daily living and
prevented some subjects from participating in the study. Required improvements include elimination of wired
connections, a smaller device, expanded stimulation capabilities, and an improved user interface.
 The purposes of this proposal are to 1) determine the effectiveness of sensory nerve stimulation to
chronically (≥1 year) reduce incontinence and improve quality of life for veterans with SCI and 2) produce an
effective take home GNS system that can be used by more individuals and used for multi-site studies. The
success of this study will be used to conduct a multi-site study of GNS and lead to clinical implementation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9918166
- **Project number:** 5I01RX002512-03
- **Recipient organization:** LOUIS STOKES CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Steven W. Brose
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9918166

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9918166, Long Term Genital Nerve Stimulation to Improve Urinary Continence (5I01RX002512-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9918166. Licensed CC0.

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