Advances in Medical Device Development for Urological Applications

Gerald Timm
GT Urological, President and Founder
University of Minnesota, Dept. of Urology

Abstract - As an electrical engineer recruited to adapt cardiac pacemaker technology to urinary bladder control I soon found myself developing mechanical devices for treatment and instrumentation systems for diagnosis of urinary control disorders and male erectile dysfunction. This presentation will describe a variety of these devices and systems that have been developed and commercialized over the past several decades as well as propose future directions for research.

Biography - Dr. Gerald W. Timm’s formal education was in Electrical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Upon completion of his PhD in 1967 he joined the faculty of the U of MN Medical School’s Department of Neurology studying problems of the pelvic organs resulting from spinal cord injury, stroke and other neurological disorders.  This work resulted in the conceptualization and subsequent development of a variety of devices for diagnosing and treating urinary control and male erectile disorders. He is a prolific author, inventor and entrepreneur having co-founded or founded five Minnesota companies including Mentor Corporation, American Medical Systems, DacoMed Corporation and Timm Medical Technologies with the most recent being GT Urological, LLC, to bring these concepts to market. He currently has a part-time faculty appointment as Professor of Urologic Surgery at the University of Minnesota and is actively engaged in studies of urological disorders.

Dr. Timm’s community activities include service on the Boards of Directors of Park Nicollet Health Systems and TRIA Orthopedic Center. In 2001, the University of Minnesota honored Timm with its Outstanding Achievement Award where he was cited for his “pioneering research on electrical bladder stimulation and fluid energy transfer systems” and in 2006, he was recognized by the Department of Urologic Surgery for Distinguished Contributions to Urology. He was elected Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers in 2010.