Urology

Business Definition

Boston Scientific’s Urology business is a leading developer of medical technologies used to diagnose and treat urological disorders.

Background

Urological disorders afflict men and women worldwide. Some of these conditions include incontinence, enlarged prostates, cancer, and kidney stones. Incontinence strikes people of different ages and backgrounds. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases estimates that the problem affects approximately 13 million adults in the United States, and occurs twice as often in women as in men. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a condition in which the prostate becomes enlarged as part of the aging process. According to the National Kidney Foundation, this non-cancerous growth affects more than half of men over age 60 and 80 percent of men over age 80. BPH is a progressive disease, and can result in significant discomfort, embarrassment and loss of sleep for sufferers. Each year, the National Kidney Foundation reports more than one million Americans are treated for kidney stones. Stones traveling out of the kidney into the urinary tract can cause intense pain and may become lodged, causing potentially dangerous waste to back up into the kidney.

Less-invasive treatments are often preferable to conventional surgery in treating urological disorders, as they can significantly reduce recovery time, are generally less expensive and subject patients to fewer risks than conventional surgery. In less-invasive procedures, devices are usually inserted into the body through small incisions or natural openings and can be guided to most areas of the anatomy to diagnose and treat a wide range of medical problems.

Less-invasive treatment options for urological disorders include devices for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as: kidney stones; female urinary incontinence (UI); pelvic floor reconstruction (rebuilding of the anatomy to its original state); BPH; bladder cancer; prostate cancer; and kidney cancer. Boston Scientific’s devices are used by urologists to treat diseases of the genitourinary tract (kidney, ureter, bladder, prostate and pelvic floor) and by urologists, urogynecologists and gynecologists to treat incontinence and pelvic floor reconstruction.

Fast Facts

• Boston Scientific’s less-invasive medical devices are used to diagnose and treat kidney stones. More than 250,000 Americans undergo ureteroscopic treatments for kidney stones annually.
• Worldwide, nearly 350,000 patients annually are treated with Boston Scientific’s kidney stone-related devices.
• Boston Scientific has a market-leading position in many product categories for the treatment of stone disease.
• Boston Scientific is a leading innovator in the field of kidney stone treatment, and is recognized as a technology leader in this field worldwide. Through alliances with leading lithotripsy companies such as Electro Medical Systems and Lumenis, Boston Scientific offers physicians a comprehensive line of products for the treatment of kidney stones.
• Boston Scientific also offers the minimally invasive the Prolieve Thermodilatation® System for the treatment of BPH, as well as a laser ablation of the Prostate procedure called HoLAP.

Looking to the Future

Boston Scientific is committed to advancing the practice of less-invasive medicine.  Today, the Company is investigating a number of technologies for the treatment of prostate cancer, bladder cancer and urinary retention.

Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices with approximately 25,000 employees and revenue of $8.3 billion in 2007. For more than 25 years, Boston Scientific has advanced the practice of less-invasive medicine by providing a broad and deep portfolio of innovative products, technologies and services across a wide range of medical specialties. The Company’s products help physicians and other medical professionals improve their patients’ quality of life by providing alternatives to surgery that minimize risk, cost, trauma, aftercare and procedure time.