Pukyong National University Student Wins Conference Award for Laser Treatment Research on Stress Urinary Incontinence

Shinhwa, Doctoral Student, Wins Outstanding Poster Award
at the 32nd Conference on Optoelectronics and Optical Communications

Pukyong National University (President Bae Sanghoon) announced that Shinhwa, a doctoral student in the Department of 4th Industrial Convergence Bionics Engineering, received the Outstanding Poster Award at the 32nd Conference on Optoelectronics and Optical Communications (COOC 2025) for research on the treatment of stress urinary incontinence using lasers.

Shinhwa and a doctoral student (Department of 4th Industrial Convergence Bionics Engineering). Provided by Pukyong National University

At the conference, which was recently held at Hanwha Resort Haeundae, Shinhwa presented the paper titled "Efficacy of transurethral laser treatment in a vaginal distension-induced stress urinary incontinence model" (supervisor: Kang Hyunwook, Department of Biomedical Engineering), and received high evaluations for the work.

Stress urinary incontinence is a condition in which urine leaks involuntarily during everyday activities such as coughing, sneezing, or exercising due to increased abdominal pressure. It is commonly seen in women. Existing treatments, such as pelvic floor muscle strengthening exercises, medication therapy, and surgical procedures, each have their own limitations, highlighting the need for more effective and safer treatment methods.

Shinhwa conducted experiments by inducing a stress urinary incontinence model in guinea pigs through vaginal distension and then irradiating a 980nm wavelength laser transurethrally. The results showed that leak point pressure, an indicator of urethral function recovery, increased by 65% in animals that received laser treatment. Histological analysis also revealed significant improvements in the regeneration of collagen and muscle tissue.

In particular, analysis of the urethral tissue showed an increase in muscle layer thickness and a broader distribution of collagen after laser irradiation, indicating that laser treatment had a positive effect on urethral tissue regeneration.

This research demonstrates the potential to overcome the limitations of existing invasive treatment methods, and further studies on the safety and clinical application of this technology are planned for the future.

Shinhwa received research support from the National Research Foundation of Korea's University-Centered Research Institute Program (principal investigator: Professor Jung Wongyo) and the 4th Stage BK21 New Senior Customized Healthcare Project (project director: Professor Lee Byungil). The research was conducted in collaboration with doctoral students Ta Minh Duc and Kang Myeongji, resulting in these achievements.

The 32nd Conference on Optoelectronics and Optical Communications in 2025 was jointly hosted by the Photonics Division of the Optical Society of Korea, the Optical Communication Research Group of the Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences, the Optical Wave and Quantum Electronics Research Group of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea, and the Optoelectronics and Electromagnetic Wave Research Group of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers.

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