BERKELEY, CA (UroToday.com) - In men with Peyronie’s disease (PD), the severity of penile deformity is a major factor in determining how the disease is managed. However, there is a wide variation in how penile deformity is measured. The methods reported in the literature include: patient self-reports, photography, “eyeball” measurements, protractors and rulers, and goniometers. Office-based measurements may not accurately reflect the disease burden of the patient when he is at home. Furthermore, during the acute phase of PD, there may be dynamic changes in penile malformation that may limit the utility of office-based measurements.
A smartphone application called UWPEN (University of Washington Peyronie’s Examination Network) has been developed to measure penile deformity. It is available for free download in the iTunes store. The goal is to provide an easy, noninvasive, and accurate method to characterize penile deformity. Using the camera and touchscreen features of these devices, the application measures penile deformity based upon curvature measurements and girth measurements made by the user. UWPEN requires an adequate erection for photographs to be taken, but it has been developed with the goal of allowing patients and their partners to capture images in the privacy of their own home. In addition to the built-in security features of smartphones, photos are immediately converted to gray-scale, pixelated photos to protect patient privacy.
In this study, UWPEN performed well in measuring curvature and girth narrowing in penile prosthetic models, when compared to the ruler and goniometer. Measurements were also highly reproducible among different observers. The findings from this study suggest that UWPEN may provide an accurate, reliable, and widely accessible method to characterize and track PD deformity over time, which may overcome many of the drawbacks of current methods to assess PD.
The smartphone is increasingly utilized by patients and providers for Medical-related applications and may potentially improve the patient-provider relationship or allow for more efficient delivery of care. Many patients with urologic conditions have smartphones, and there is great potential to leverage this technology to develop tools for patients and providers. Efforts are underway to validate UWPEN in the PD population and to determine patient acceptance. It is also anticipated that further improvements will be made to the usability and functionality of the application.
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| Figure 1: Opening iphone page of “UWPEN” | Figure 2: Measurement page of "UWPEN" |
Written by:
Ryan Hsi, MDa and Thomas J. Walsh, MDb as part of Beyond the Abstract on UroToday.com. This initiative offers a method of publishing for the professional urology community. Authors are given an opportunity to expand on the circumstances, limitations etc... of their research by referencing the published abstract.
aResident, University of Washington Department of Urology
bAssociate Professor, University of Washington Department of Urology
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