A partnership between Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública and the company DGM Eletrônica has just launched the LED device for vaginal treatments on the market. The initiative will allow the treatment of illnesses, such as candidiasis, on a large scale, through a few sessions that can be carried out by professionals working in the urogynecological area (urologists, gynecologists, physiotherapists and nurses, excluding the use of medications).

candidiasis
Coceira intensa na região íntima e dor ou ardência durante as relações sexuais são alguns dos sinais de alerta para a candidíase vaginal, uma infecção causada por qualquer tipo de fungo do gênero Candida. Ela não é considerada uma doença sexualmente transmissível, e seu tratamento, geralmente, é realizado com pomadas ou medicamentos via oral.

Porém, o alto índice de recorrência, relacionado ao fungo Candida glabrata chamou a atenção das pesquisadoras Patrícia Lordêlo, Mariana Robatto e Maria Clara Pavie, do Centro de Atenção ao Assoalho Pélvico (CAAP), ligado à Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública. They noticed that many patients did not respond to traditional treatment within the prescribed period (days), going on to months of drug therapy, which leads to adverse effects such as insomnia, anxiety, dysuria (pain or burning when urinating) and vaginal pain.

Nesse sentido, o grupo desenvolveu um tratamento com o uso da luz de emissão de diodo (LED) azul que já se encontra na fase de testes clínicos randomizados, tendo sido apresentado em diversos congressos da área, a exemplo do 48th Annual Meeting of the International Continence Society, realizado em 2018, na Filadélfia, Estados Unidos, e publicado em revistas cientificas internacionais de alto impacto, como a Lasers in Medical Science.


According to the coordinator of the CAAP, Dr. Patrícia Lordêlo, who is a physiotherapist and PhD in Medicine and Human Health, a device was developed for the emission of blue LED light whose patent has already been filed with the National Institute of Industrial Property. "We have cases of patients who were already in treatment for more than six months and who, with only three sessions of thirty minutes – one session per week – reached a cure". She highlights the absence of contraindications and side effects of the treatment, as it involves light emission without radiation or other external factors. "The session is simple. The patient is lying down and does not have to do anything", explains Lordêlo.

The studies were expanded, and today the device is also intended for the treatment of sexual dysfunctions in cancer patients (such as prostate cancer and combating vulvovaginal atrophy).

LED device for vaginal treatments
After a long period of care in a control group, the prototype showed its effectiveness in the treatment of candidiasis, enabling a partnership between the Bahiana and DGM Electronics for large-scale production and introduction of the device into the healthcare market.

The Dean of Research, Innovation and Post-Graduate Education Stricto Sensu of Bahiana, Dr. Atson Fernandes, destaca a importância da parceria entre a academia, com o seu saber científico, e a indústria, com o seu saber técnico, para o sucesso do projeto. “É uma grande conquista, porque a gente cumpriu todas as etapas para chegar ao produto: a pesquisa; o desenvolvimento tecnológico, a partir do embasamento científico; a validação e a comercialização. É um grande passo que mostra a maturidade institucional da Bahiana, que contribui com o seu próprio papel, num chamado ‘ecossistema’: ciência, tecnologia e inovação”, declara.

The transfer of technology from academia to industry is also celebrated by the CEO of DGM Electronics, Décio Minalle. According to him, a major difficulty is for university researchers to produce, without industrial knowledge, a device that safely reaches society. Minalle also emphasizes that it is costly for industry to maintain researchers in its staff as much as it is for academia to maintain engineers with technical knowledge and access to technological production.

“The partnership is good for both sides: academia comes in with scientific knowledge, and we, from industry, come in with technology. This allows us to deliver a product with scientifically proven efficacy to the market”, adds the CEO. Regarding the approval by the responsible public bodies, Minalle explains that DMG Eletrônica already has approval from ANVISA to produce phototherapy treatment devices, which is precisely the case, because the device is a type of phototherapy, such as the LED Device for vaginal treatments.

PHOTO: From left to right, we have researchers Mariana Robatto, Patrícia Lordêlo and Maria Clara Pavie.