Hi I’m Randy Golden for Medical Technologies of Georgia and I’m here today to introduce everybody to our MTG EZ-Gripper closed system intermittent catheter. This product is designed for use by tetraplegics or anybody really with poor hand dexterity.

OK, now let’s take a look and see what inside of each package. First of all we have finger holes that are on the outside of the packaging of both the paper and the plastic side of that facilitate opening so when you open just hold the paper and pull the plastic and you’ll be able to get the package open more easily and it won’t rip.

And then inside of each kit we have a pair of cuff folded latex-free gloves. I’ll show everybody. We have an under pad. There shouldn’t be any spilling but just in case it’s always a good idea to have a pad. We have a gauze tissue, an antiseptic wipe which again is clear and not going to cause a big mess. And then the privacy bag which is designed to dispose of all the refuse once we’re finished.

Now let’s take a look at gripper catheter. OK, this product available in 12, 14 and 16 French and it’s a closed system. Closed systems by design have a couple of features.

First of all, the bag protects the sterility of the catheter so there’s no chance really that the catheter is going to be exposed to the outside world. The bag is also going to catch the fluid so we don’t have to get out of our wheelchair to be able to catheterize. You can stay in our chair, even in bed, when we catheterize in this product.

The catheter’s pre-lubricated so that step has been eliminated.

On all MTG catheters we have an introducer tip. This introducer tip is made from silicone, there’s no latex in any of our products, and this silicone introducer tip is designed to have the catheter bypass the distal urethra. Studies show that a vast majority of bacteria within the entire length of the urethra are right when you first go in and if the catheter goes through unprotected it can push those bugs further into the body. By virtue of this introducer tip when we advance the catheter, the catheter is going to be passed beyond this contamination.

So what’s the big difference for this product?

Well you probably have already noticed we have a blue clip on the outside of the bag. The blue clip is designed for patients that don’t have the ability to pinch. If they can get their hand around the gripping device and then advance the catheter with the gripping device forward, just like that, the catheter come out of the bag and you notice here that I don’t really have to squeeze.

I can just kind of manipulate the gripper back and forth and that’s how the catheter is going to be advanced. Forward brings the catheter out of the bag and then I reload the gripper and it stays in place because we have a locking mechanism within the bag that keeps the catheter from going backwards.

I’d also like to cover a couple other features of our bag. We have finger holes at both the top and the bottom to facilitate draining and emptying once we get urine into the bag. We also have a “tear here to empty” perforation which is fairly easy to open.

It’s very important when removing the cap from gripper catheter to gently pry the cap away. Let me show this again. So the cap is secure on the introducer tip. When you remove it, gently pry it away like so. You’ll see the introducer tip is intact. Now if you pull the cap in an upward manner as I’m doing here what can happen the introducer tip can be removed completely from the bag and will look like the one in my right hand looks now. And you can actually look down and see the advancer valve. If the introducer tip has been removed, discard it and get new catheter you don’t want to use a catheter without the introducer tip.

MTG’s catheter eyelets or drainage holes are fire-polished so they’re less likely to cause irritation as the catheter winds its way through the urethra. We also have a conical tip which helps the catheter pass through tight spots along the way.

So let’s talk about training a user with limited dexterity how to use EZ-Gripper catheter.

The first step is to try our EZ-Gripper pencil and if the user can write his or her name with the pencil and had this much dexterity just like that they should be able to self-catheterize.

Once the user’s mastered the pencil test step two is to take the product and try it on a table.

So I’m right-handed I’m going to use my left hand to secure the bag to the table just like so. I’m going to hold the pipe down against the table with my left hand. My right hand is going to go two inches to the left and two inches to the right and two inches to the left and two inches to the right and that’s all the dexterity necessary to be able to self-catheterize.

Watch how we do this. So right behind the ridge, just a little pressure here, and it pull the catheter forward, just like so. See it come out of the bag?

Now I’m going to release pressure and I’m going to scoot back two inches to the right. No pressure going back. Little pressure coming forward, no pressure going back. Two inches to the left two inches to the right. And you’ll notice the catheter is coming out of the bag. My left hand is remaining stable holding everything against the table with my two fingers here of my left hand.

Now I’d like to show everybody how to use EZ-Gripper catheter on an anatomical model.

Of course before we catheterize always use soap and water to wash the glans prior to catheterization.

And you can see how the bags positioned here on my right leg. Now I’m right-handed so I’m going to use my right hand to move the gripping device to the left and to the right to advance the catheter and then reload the gripper. I’m going to hold the anatomy, my penis, down against my right leg with my left hand.

OK, so here’s how it works. Insert the catheter and the introducer tip in the urethra, just like so. Then I’m going to hold everything stable with my left hand and now when I’ve got everything secure I’m going to go two inches to the left and two inches to the right and two inches to the left and two inches to the right and we keep manipulating the catheter as such in this manner gently advancing the catheter.

If you have any resistance always take a deep breath and you never want to force the catheter in. Just as the catheter glides its way through the urethra, just like so, two inches the left, two inches to the right, and when we see urine flow, give that one more push to get it right in the middle of the bladder and then we take the finger hole that we talked about earlier and we grab the finger hole and bring the bag down between the legs.

Urine is going to flow right into the sack; you want it to be downhill so the urine will go downward into the bag.

Now let’s pretend that we finished voiding and we pull the catheter out about one inch and once we see urine flow discontinue, after we pulled the catheter out one inch, we can then let go of the anatomy and go back and get our gauze tissue and use that gauze tissue to catch the eyes of the catheter as the catheter leaves the body. So now let’s assume that we have a full bag of fluid here and we’re needing to drain it.

OK, so I’m going to hold everything with my finger hole and if I haven’t got the dexterity to drain the bag by tearing the bag, I don’t have to worry about that. All I have to do is go to the other end of the bag turn it upside down and the urine will actually flow into the toilet from the catheter itself and you don’t have to tear the bag open. If you have the dexterity to tear the bag, it’s fairly easy to do. It’s even easier to pour the urine off in the toilet. And when we’re finished, we have a privacy bag included so all the refuse can be disposed of discreetly and easily.

Periodically it may be necessary for you to take a sterile sample to your doctor. MTG catheters have been facilitated to make that possible. Please watch our video on sterile sample retrieval which goes into great detail on our website. And by the way, if you do cut the bag or tear the bag, the edges that you’re going to be pouring from will not be sterile as they will be contaminated so please watch the video for proper instruction in that regard.

Thank you for watching the video. If you have any questions about MTG EZ-Gripper please visit our website mtgcatheters.com where you can also request free samples.