Company History

Since its establishment, Laborie Medical Technologies Inc, has been a leading North American manufacturer of innovative Windows®-based Urodynamics (UDS) products. As the incidence of incontinence was increasing and receiving more medical attention, the science of Urodynamics was still in its early stages. Tests were lengthy and equipment was complicated to use; few urology centers wanted to invest the time, effort and money required to perform Urodynamic evaluations. Laborie recognized that by using computers, many of these handicaps could be overcome. So, in 1984 Laborie introduced the world’s first computerized Urodynamics processor. Comparing this to the existing manufacturing of Urodynamics equipment, which involved primarily electro-mechanical components and no microprocessor, Laborie had the benefit of taking a “clean-sheet” approach to equipment design. With a team of electronic engineers (EE) instead of mechanical engineers, we realized that a much simpler, more compact system could be developed at a far lower cost than what was presently available. The key element lied in the fact that a dedicated engineer did NOT have to operate the urodynamics equipment and that less technical personnel could manage the procedures by focusing less on the equipment and more on the patient.

Starting in the mid-1980’s, when Laborie had already started to market the world’s first computerized Urodynamics system — the UDSTM-500 — we looked to see what would be the next generation of systems to come. The PC computer had just come of age, and the operating system, DOS, was very limited. It was inevitable that computer hardware was going to become more and more powerful – however the operating system was still in its infancy. Deciding which operating system would succeed was one of the pivotal technical decisions we as a company had to make. Laborie was planning for the future, and even before the full potential of Windows® was recognized, we were programming our Urodynamics software in Windows® to make it easier for our customers to use. If the gamble of choosing Microsoft® was correct, our company would have a UDS system far ahead of the competition. If we chose incorrectly, we would have ended up investing a great deal of development resources for nothing.

By keeping a close eye on Microsoft® and performing the necessary due diligence, we already knew that Windows® would be the vehicle of the future. However, we also knew that programming in Windows® was much more difficult and time consuming than programming in DOS. However, the prospect of delivering a superior product far out-weighed the cost and risks associated with putting this system together. We recognized that certain unorthodox programming methods had to be developed by us to circumvent some of the intentional operating system locks within Windows that prevented us from getting real-time graphic performance. Microsoft® even notified us that they would not be supporting our efforts to make their office software product (Windows® 2.11 at the time) into a medical device.

In 1990 our initial product was ready to go to market. The first few prototypes were made for specific researchers — we called this model the Phoenix™ (and shortly thereafter Aquarius™). It was our aim to manufacture only a handful of these custom devices for the field’s top luminaries and get their impressions on what a standard Urodynamic system would look like. We only intended to make less than six systems – systems that were sold personally by Ray Laborie and the Chief Engineer, Ing Goping. As demand increased through word of mouth, Peter Bulla was transferred out of the surgical endoscopy division (since divested from Laborie’s product portfolio), to manage the sales of Aquarius systems full-time. Six systems per year grew to 15 per year, then 30 per year, and more and more the demand for the high-end systems did not wane. In fact it grew beyond our wildest expectations!

Meanwhile, using the technology that we developed for our Aquarius™ clients, smaller office systems such as Encore™, Ascend™, Avanti™, Dorado™ and Bonito™ were born. They too were received with great success in the North American marketplace. But what about the international market?

Urodynamics was not invented in North America and if we were to be a global player, we needed to have a presence in countries such as the UK, Germany, and France and so on. Therefore, in 1996 we started to export our product line to Europe through our Belgian office. Much like our experiences with the Aquarius™, we had to understand that international Urodynamics had subtle but important differences from North American Urodynamics. Nevertheless, several key clinicians in Europe supported us coming to their country, and with their help we adjusted and refined the systems to address their needs just as we did for the North American market.

In 1999, Ray Laborie and Ing Goping ventured into mainland China to see what the prospects were over there and how Laborie could make an impact in the Asian market. Considering that Peter Bulla had a good handle on the US marketplace, new territories in far away lands had to be explored. China was not an immediate success. It had a number of economic limitations, but again, with the help of our key clients they gave us the support we needed to make China a success as well.

The result of our growth and innovation: today, Laborie continues to be the leader in Windows® for Urodynamics — our customers have recognized its superiority.

Our reputation in innovating Urodynamics has also propelled us to look into other areas of development such as Biofeedback/Stimulation treatment devices, Neural-network curve analysis and modeling tools, Erectile Dysfunction monitoring, expansive patient information system software, x-ray and ultrasound tissue imaging, anal-rectal manometry systems and even proprietary consumable products. These are all areas that Laborie has branched out in while keeping our philosophy of innovation and quality at its core.

In addition to utilizing the latest advances in technology, our company works with leading clinician-researchers, local universities and a team of on-staff engineers. With these resources, Laborie brings to any project the talent and technical knowledge necessary to assure that our systems not only incorporate the most recent advancements, but also reflect the practical realities of the typical pelvic floor clinic.