Getting Started with the MTG Eagle® Board

The information provided in this video is not medical advice. Please follow the advice of your personal physician or other healthcare provider in performing self-catheterization. If you experience any persistent pain or discomfort associated with the catheter, consult with a medical professional.

About the MTG Eagle® Board
for Male Quadriplegic Self-Catheterization

The MTG Eagle® Board Self-Catheterization Assistive Device is a unique, innovative product that makes it easier for anyone with poor dexterity to self-catheterize, such as quadriplegics (tetraplegics), amputees, people with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) or Parkinson’s Disease, and others who have difficulty holding their penis and advancing a urinary catheter. The male version is available now. 

Watch the video above to see the MTG Eagle® Board’s features and learn how to use it for easier urinary catheterization.

The video explains these features…

  • Penile Lever: Secures the penis to the board using a magnet to hold it in place without the use of hands.
  • Housing Clip: Secures the catheter bag to the board, leaving your hands free.
  • Wings: Allow the board to rest on your legs at a slight downward angle so urine will flow into the catheter bag.
  • Finger Holes: Let you easily pick up the board to place it on your legs, and remove it when done.
  • Pants Hook: Let’s you pull open your pants by pulling the board away from your body.
  • Allen Screws: Let you tighten the wings to hold the board at an angle on your lap, making it possible to insert the urinary catheter even when you have an erection.

Video Transcript

Mike: Hi I’m Mike Ritmiller. I’m an urology physician’s assistant and the inventor of the MTG Eagle® Board.

Randy: And I’m Randy Golden. I’m with Medical Technologies of Georgia. We’re the manufacturer of the MTG EZ-Gripper® catheter and that product is used in conjunction with the MTG Eagle® Board.

Mike: So included in a package that’s going to be sent to the patient is the board itself, a sizing chart, a sheet of pre-cut dense foam for placement on the board and an Allen wrench.

Concerning the board, there’s an area called the lever area. This is the place that accepts foam and also is where the penis will go.

And there is a rare earth magnet that allows for closure and stability.

This is the housing clip that holds the catheter in place. There’s also plastic spacers, one on top and one on the bottom that’ll allow for adjustment of height for the housing.

There are wings with compression screws that allow for certain placement of the catheter especially if the patient has an erect penis.

There are drainage troughs.

There’s finger holes and on the back is a pant hook that allows for stability and placement and pulls the board into the patient when they’re doing self-catheterization.

Concerning the pre-cut foam sponges, some are designed for the sleeve area where the lever is and then some are designed for the wing area, like this one is applied and this one that’s not applied as of yet.

Randy: And I’d like to talk now about our MTG EZ-Gripper® catheter and how to use this catheter along with our Eagle® Board. So the way to use this, there are finger holes that help facilitate opening. I’m just going to go directly to the catheter, for information about how to use the catheter there are several videos on our website MedTechGA.com. Look for those.

I’m going to extend the catheter out and then you always want to get rid of this little bend, just kind of straighten it up like so.

You can pry the cap off using the teeth if necessary and then the catheter is just going to be adhered to the board at the housing clip, like Mike described, with a little tap tap tap you can get that catheter in place.

And then when everything’s ready to go, the user is just going to insert the introducer tip in the urethra and then they’re going to hold whichever hand isn’t the better hand on one wing against the leg to kind of stabilize everything, as Mike described a minute ago.

And then with the other hand, they’re going to go back and forth with the gripping device, just like so. That’s how the catheter’s extended up into the bladder.

Of course urine’s going to flow down into the sack.

We’ll talk about all the drainage issues and so forth. I have another video for users that goes into detail on how to drain the bag and so forth afterwards.

OK, now I also want to talk about a couple of accessory items you’re going to need for clinical use of MTG Eagle® Board. You’re going to want to have some lint free gauze pads available and some isopropyl alcohol.

And initially you’re going to need a screwdriver as Mike described a minute ago. The risers can be lowered and raised and the pant hook’s adjustable as well with a Philips head screwdriver.

OK, so those are items you’re going to need as well.

And now we’d like to turn it over to Gwen Alexander, our senior occupational therapist, who’s going to show everybody how to set the board up for an actual patient.

Gwen: Hi, my name is Gwen Alexander, I’m an occupational therapist and today I’m going to review the initial setup for a patient to use the MTG Eagle® Board for self-catheterization.

The first thing we wanted to do is to make sure that we wipe the Eagle® Board down with alcohol and a lint-free gauze and we want to do that every time between patient use.

Following standard precautions we’re always going to wear gloves and the next thing we’re going to do is to size the penis to determine the number of pads needed on the penile lever and the cup and we’re going to do

That using the sizing guide that is provided in the kit

I’m going to go down to the base of the penis and according to our sizing guide he’s a size D and following the instructions a size D requires one pad on the lever or the cup and in this case we’re going to put the pad on the cup.

The sheet that is provided in the kit comes with various size pads for the cup, the lever and the wings. Extra pads are provided so that you can make changes — the patient can replace them if they become torn or worn and to have extras available during the sizing and the fitting process.

Now I’m going to show you how to apply the pads to the Eagle® Board.

Again with the size D we’re going to use the short narrow cup pad and there are grooves here so you can see where to fit it.

And then we’re going to flip the Eagle® Board over and apply the second pad using the short wide wing pad.

Now that we’ve applied the padding we’re going to check for the alignment of the housing clip to the urethral opening.

Because my patient is having an erection and often has erections during self-catheterization, the great thing about the Eagle® Board is we can make modifications to accommodate for that.

By placing the Eagle® Board at a 45-degree angle to the body and using the Allen wrench provided, we can tighten the compression screws to lock it in place, and now we have a better alignment

The final step and setup is to adjust the fit of the pant hook which is used to stabilize the board and the penis and for advancement into the pelvis.

Adjustments can be made to the pant hook with a Philips screwdriver by unloosening the two screws here and advancing the pant hook either forward or backward on the board depending on the type of clothing that’s being worn. Sweatpants and athletic shorts with an elastic waistband work best.

Now that the setup is complete my patient is now ready to learn to self-catheterize using the MTG Eagle® Board and the MTG EZ-Gripper® catheter.