Concept-stage continence device
Measure bladder state, not wet fabric.
DryNight is a pre-prototype lower-abdomen patch concept for pediatric bedwetting. It is being designed to estimate bladder filling before wetness, cue the child privately, and involve caregivers only when useful.
“I wet the bed until I was twelve. Now my nine-year-old son does, every night. So I started building what I wish I had.”
Stage
Pre-prototype
No clinical validation, FDA clearance, or finished device is being claimed.
First use case
Pediatric nocturnal enuresis
A narrow first wedge before any adult or older-adult expansion.
Technical risk
Overnight signal quality
Motion, posture, contact, power, comfort, false alerts, and useful lead time.
Development path
Focused validation
Test whether bladder filling can be estimated early enough to cue before voiding.
Concept-stage only. Not clinically validated, FDA-cleared, or available for diagnosis, treatment, or medical decision-making.
Photo: Obama Foundation ↗
The founder
I wet the bed until I was twelve.
I grew up in Cameroon. My grandparents tried everything: raw okra, anthills, every remedy the village knew. Nothing worked. I stopped going to boarding school so no one would find out. I became the cleanest, most driven student I could be, because I was convinced no one could ever know what I was hiding at night.
Now my nine-year-old son wets the bed every night. His is more severe than mine. I refuse to shame him the way I was shamed. But the best alarms on the market still have cords, still detect moisture after the fact, still fail him.
So I started building what I wish I had. DryNight begins with my son, but the standard is broader: a child should not have to be wet before the system understands that help is needed.
Ndansi Elvis Nukam
· Founder & CEO, DryNight01 · Problem
Most products react after the bed is already wet.
Moisture alarms can help some families, but they usually detect urine after it reaches clothing or bedding. DryNight starts from a different question: can a comfortable overnight patch estimate bladder filling early enough to cue before voiding?
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Current alarms detect wetness
Moisture clips are useful for some families, but they begin after urine reaches clothing or bedding.
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Clinical care still needs better home tools
Behavioral care, medication, and alarms all have roles. The missing product category is an earlier bladder-state signal that families can use at night.
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Families need earlier information
The intended product is not a louder alarm. It is a quieter signal before the event, with caregiver escalation only when it helps.
Illustrative concept, not measured device output. The product question is whether that cue window can be detected reliably and comfortably overnight.
Current solutions
Families already have options. None of them act before the bed is wet.
A new category only earns a place if it answers a question the existing tools do not. Bedwetting alarms, medication, behavioral programs, and even existing bladder sensors each do real work. DryNight is scoped for the gap none of them fill: a private cue at night, before voiding.
| Approach | When it acts | What it asks of the family | The gap it leaves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moisture alarms | After wetness reaches clothing or bedding | Weeks to months of consistent nightly use; tolerating a 2am alarm and laundry | Reacts to the event it is meant to prevent; many families stop before it works |
| Desmopressin | Reduces overnight urine production | A prescription, fluid limits, and management of relapse on stopping | Manages symptoms pharmacologically; relapse is common and it does not teach timing |
| Behavioral and urotherapy | Over weeks, through daytime habits and bladder training | Sustained effort from child and caregiver; clinic follow-up | Slow, effort-heavy, and not a nighttime signal |
| Daytime bladder sensors (SENS-U) | Notify when the bladder is near full, primarily for daytime urotherapy | Wearing and charging a lower-abdomen ultrasound sensor | Built for daytime full-bladder notification, not a private nocturnal pre-void cue |
| DryNight (proposed) | During sleep, before voiding, at a chosen fill threshold | A comfortable patch and a private wrist cue; caregiver escalation only by plan | Unproven. This is the hypothesis DryNight has to earn through feasibility work. |
DryNight is concept-stage. The comparison describes intended product direction, not validated performance. The SENS-U row reflects a real commercial device; see the evidence room for citations.
02 · Night loop
A caregiver sees the plan. The wearer gets the first private cue.
The product is being designed around dignity first: a child, adult, or older adult gets a private signal before a caregiver is brought in. The hardware path can change; these product standards should not.
Profile, cue intensity, and escalation.
A live estimate of bladder filling on the sensing arc.
A private wrist cue first. Caregiver only if needed.
The loop, four moments.
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01 Before bed
Place the patch once
The lower-abdomen patch has to be soft, cordless, and stable enough that setup does not become a nightly argument.
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02 During sleep
Estimate bladder filling locally
Raw sensing should stay close to the device while the system looks for a conservative threshold, not a diagnostic conclusion.
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03 First cue
Cue the wearer privately
The cue should be private and gentle before a public alarm or caregiver escalation is considered.
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04 Escalation
Bring in help only when needed
Caregiver alerts should be configurable, minimal, and reserved for moments when the private cue alone is not enough.
The hardware path can change. These product standards should not.
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Private by default
No loud bedroom alarm as the default interaction.
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Evidence before promotion
No performance number appears until the study design can defend it.
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Comfort before dashboards
A family will not use a better signal if the device is hard to wear.
For families
The questions a parent actually asks.
Honest answers, including the ones that are still "we do not know yet." If you have lived this, the next answer matters more than any pitch.
Family list
Be the first to know when there is something to try.
One email. We write when there is real news, not before. No spam, no promises we cannot keep.
We will never share your address. This is not a medical service.
Is sensing my child’s belly every night safe? +
The lead approach is low-power ultrasound on the lower abdomen, related to sensors already used in children, but DryNight’s intended use is different: continuous, every-night, all-night sensing. That continuous use pattern is exactly what safety and human-factors work has to establish on its own; we do not assume it is safe because a daytime sensor exists. We will not ask a family to use it until that work is done and reviewed.
What would my child actually wear? +
The intended design is a soft patch on the lower abdomen and a wrist cue, not a cord clipped to pajamas. Comfort is treated as a primary product gate, because a better signal is useless if a child will not sleep in it.
Will it wake my child if they sleep through everything? +
Deep-sleep arousal is the hardest part of bedwetting and the reason many alarms fail. DryNight starts with a private, escalating wrist cue and lets caregivers decide when an adult is brought in. Whether the cue reliably rouses a child is one of the first things the feasibility studies have to answer honestly.
When could we try it, and what might it cost? +
There is no product to buy yet and no date we would promise before the science supports it. The most useful thing right now is to leave your email so we can reach out when there is something real to try, and to tell us what the alarm years were actually like.
What can we do tonight, while you build? +
Talk to your pediatrician. Most childhood bedwetting resolves with time, and current options (alarms, desmopressin, and behavioral programs) help many families. DryNight is not a reason to delay care that could help your child now.
03 · Evidence room
A credible company starts with a credible proof plan.
Why the idea is plausible, where the first risk sits, and what proof would move the company from concept to funded medical-device program.
83%
of natural overnight bladder-filling cycles (15 of 18) were detected at home by the SENS-U in 14 children with enuresis, the setting closest to DryNight’s, though the device only monitored.
[2] Kwinten et al., 2020 ↗90%
of a controlled clinic urodynamic study (30 children, ages 6–12) had a full, catheter-filled bladder recognized before voiding by the SENS-U. A controlled-fill benchmark, not an overnight result.
[1] van Leuteren et al., 2018 ↗External findings, not DryNight performance data. They measure detection under different conditions, and in both studies the device only monitored: its alerts were switched off. Neither tested waking a child, so the hardest part of DryNight’s thesis (a cue that rouses a deep sleeper) has no precedent and must be earned.
Problem reality
The first proof is not technical. The first proof is that timing, dignity, and caregiver burden matter enough to justify a better product.
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Bedwetting is common in school-age children and often resolves gradually rather than immediately. [3]
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Most household alarms start when wetting begins, not when the bladder first becomes actionable. [3][4]
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Families need earlier information and less public interruption, not a louder signal after wetness has already reached clothing or bedding. [4]
Technical precedent
The strongest precedent is also the clearest competitor: both pediatric studies below evaluated the SENS-U, a wearable lower-abdomen ultrasound bladder sensor (Novioscan, acquired by Essity in 2020) for children (the SENS-U commercial indication is ages 6 to 16; both studies below enrolled ages 6 to 12). That a commercial device already estimates bladder state in this population de-risks the sensing thesis. Note that in both cited studies the device only monitored, with alerts switched off, so the precedent covers detection, not waking a child. DryNight's wedge is not the sensor alone; it is a nocturnal, dignity-first timing system built around the home.
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The SENS-U wearable ultrasound sensor detected full bladders before voiding in 90% of a 30-child urodynamic cohort aged 6 to 12. [1][6]
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In a single-night home session, the SENS-U detected 83% of natural nocturnal bladder-filling cycles (15 of 18) in children with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis, without disturbing sleep. [2]
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Noninvasive bladder monitoring is an active research area across ultrasound, bioimpedance, optical sensing, and flexible ultrasonic devices. [6][7]
Product thesis
DryNight is taking a clear position: the winning product is not only a sensor. It is a private timing system that fits the home.
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The first wedge is a soft lower-abdomen patch, a private wearer cue, and optional caregiver escalation.
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The first product milestone should be narrow: timely pre-void cueing before wetness starts.
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The same timing problem can later support adult, older-adult, and caregiver workflows once the pediatric proof point is earned.
Validation milestones
This is the work that turns a strong idea into an investable medical-device program.
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Select the sensing architecture that survives body-size variation, sleep position, motion, adhesion, and power constraints. [6][7]
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Define an actionable threshold that balances missed cues, false cues, wearer comfort, and caregiver burden.
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Run repeated-night usability and a clinician-reviewed pilot before expanding the market story. [3][4]
References
- [1] Validation of a wearable ultrasonic bladder monitor in children during urodynamic studies · van Leuteren et al., 2018 ↗
Pediatric urodynamic-room study in 30 children aged 6 to 12. A wearable lower-abdomen ultrasound sensor detected the full bladder before voiding in 90% of patients (27 of 30). The device studied is the SENS-U (Novioscan).
- [2] Continuous home monitoring of natural nocturnal bladder filling in children with nocturnal enuresis: a feasibility study · Kwinten et al., 2020 ↗
Single-night, at-home feasibility session in 14 children (of 15 enrolled) with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis. The SENS-U detected 83% of natural nocturnal bladder-filling cycles (15 of 18); the 3 missed cycles fell below the sensor's volume detection limit. It did not disturb sleep.
- [3] Enuresis in Children: Common Questions and Answers · Lauters et al., 2022 ↗
Supports burden, spontaneous resolution, and the current standard of alarms plus desmopressin for many children.
- [4] Bedwetting in under 19s: initial treatment · NICE CG111, 2010 ↗
Clarifies that alarms detect when wetting starts, often require sustained family effort, and are not ideal for every household.
- [5] Management and treatment of nocturnal enuresis: an updated standardization document from the International Children's Continence Society · Nevéus et al., 2020 ↗
The ICCS standard separates enuresis into nocturnal polyuria (overnight output above 130% of expected bladder capacity, desmopressin-first), reduced nocturnal bladder capacity, and disordered arousal. It defines expected bladder capacity as (age + 1) x 30 mL and grounds why a pre-void cue fits some children, not all.
- [6] State of the Art of Non-Invasive Technologies for Bladder Monitoring: A Scoping Review · Hafid et al., 2023 ↗
Summarizes ultrasound, optical, and bioimpedance approaches for non-invasive bladder monitoring and highlights the field's current limits.
- [7] An integrated and flexible ultrasonic device for continuous bladder volume monitoring · Toymus et al., 2024 ↗
Shows that wearable ultrasound bladder sensing is technically plausible in research settings, while still distinct from a validated pediatric product.
- [8] Essity acquires smart ultrasound technology for incontinence care · Essity, April 2020 ↗
Hygiene company Essity acquired Novioscan, maker of the SENS-U pediatric bladder sensor, confirming the modality is a real commercial category, not only a research idea.
Investor diligence
Questions a careful reader will ask.
How is this different from existing bladder sensors like the SENS-U? +
The SENS-U (Novioscan, acquired by Essity) is a real wearable ultrasound bladder sensor for children, and the two pediatric studies cited here used it. That is a strength: it proves the modality can estimate bladder state in this population. SENS-U is built around daytime full-bladder notifications and urotherapy, and in both cited studies its alerts were switched off, so it was never asked to wake a sleeping child. DryNight is scoped differently: a nocturnal, dignity-first timing system whose hardest, unproven job is a private cue that actually rouses a deep sleeper. The wedge is the overnight product and the home experience, not the sensor alone.
Which kind of bedwetting is this actually for? +
Nocturnal enuresis is not one condition. The ICCS separates it into nocturnal polyuria (the kidney overproduces at night, treated first with desmopressin), reduced nocturnal bladder capacity, and a deep-sleep arousal problem, often mixed. A pre-void cue fits the reduced-capacity and arousal children, where there is a fill-to-threshold window and a void to get ahead of. It is a poor fit for polyuria-dominant children, who can out-produce any reasonable wake schedule. The feasibility plan screens for phenotype, sets the cue threshold relative to each child’s expected bladder capacity, and pre-specifies reduced-capacity children as the primary population rather than treating enuresis as monolithic.
If bladder sensing already works, why has it not replaced moisture alarms? +
Sensing is necessary but not sufficient. Adoption in pediatric enuresis is governed by comfort, overnight wearability, false-alarm burden, caregiver fatigue, and whether the cue actually rouses a deep-sleeping child. DryNight treats those as the first product gates, not afterthoughts, which is why the feasibility plan logs comfort and arousal as primary outcomes.
Why is this a company, not just a feature? +
The unmet need is not a cleaner wetness alarm. It is earlier, quieter, more private timing. A product that can identify a useful pre-void window has a different value proposition for families, pediatric continence care, older-adult care, and long-term caregiver workflows.
What makes the technical thesis credible? +
The literature already includes noninvasive bladder monitoring, wearable ultrasound work, pediatric urodynamic testing, and overnight home monitoring in children with nocturnal enuresis. That is enough to justify serious feasibility work, especially if DryNight stays focused on a narrow first milestone.
What is the likely regulatory path? +
DryNight would be a software-driven wearable medical device, so the path runs through the FDA. The intended approach is least-burdensome: a pre-submission (Q-Sub) meeting before any performance claim, then a 510(k) if a suitable predicate exists in the bladder-sensing class, or a De Novo if it does not. Nothing is filed yet, and no clearance is claimed; intended use and claim language will be set with regulatory counsel before a pilot generates performance data.
Where is the first technical risk? +
Signal quality under real overnight conditions. The system must handle motion, sleep position, body variation, sensor coupling, adhesion, battery life, and the difference between a useful trend and noise.
What would make the next financing round credible? +
A credible round should be tied to specific de-risking: bench signal quality, a wearable form factor, repeated-night comfort, a defensible cue threshold, and a clinician-reviewed pilot protocol. Those milestones are concrete enough for investors, advisors, and device partners to pressure-test.
Why keep the first milestone narrow? +
Because a narrow milestone can be tested, funded, and defended. Pediatric nocturnal enuresis gives DryNight a specific first wedge. Adult and older-adult continence workflows become stronger expansion paths after the signal, comfort, and cue logic are validated.
What would move this forward
Clinical and study design
DryNight needs advisors who can turn the first milestone into a study plan that matters clinically and commercially.
- Pediatric urology, continence, sleep, and behavioral-health input on patient selection and meaningful endpoints
- Feedback on what counts as clinically useful pre-void notice versus noise
- Early design help for feasibility, human-factors, and pilot study protocols
Wearable sensing and manufacturing
The hardware path has to be comfortable, low-power, manufacturable, and strong enough for repeated overnight wear.
- Wearable ultrasound, bioimpedance, signal processing, low-power electronics, and patch mechanics expertise
- Advice on coupling, motion artifacts, overnight adhesion, battery tradeoffs, and manufacturable form factors
- Reality checks on whether a pediatric overnight product can be comfortable enough for repeated use
Capital and commercialization
The business path should finance the right proof, protect the first milestone, and keep the broader market in view.
- Regulatory guidance on intended use, performance language, and the right sequence of risk-reduction work
- Quality-system and manufacturing advice appropriate for an early medical-device program
- Investors and operators who fund evidence milestones, not vanity waitlist metrics
04 · Validation roadmap
The next 90 days have one job: reduce technical risk.
DryNight becomes more credible when each stage answers a concrete proof question. The roadmap below is intentionally narrow because the company is pre-prototype and not clinically validated.
A rolling 90-day plan. Phases restate as gates close.
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0–30 days
phase 01 of 03
Lock the product claim and evidence file
Define the first claim as pre-void cue feasibility, not bedwetting treatment.
- Write the intended-use boundary and prohibited claims list.
- Complete a source map for enuresis care, wetness alarms, and bladder-monitoring literature.
- Define the minimum useful lead-time endpoint before any prototype study.
Decision gate
Can the company explain exactly what it is testing without implying that the device already works?
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31–60 days
phase 02 of 03
Choose the first sensing experiment
Compare candidate sensing paths against the realities of overnight pediatric wear.
- Specify ultrasound and bioimpedance bench tests, including motion and contact-loss cases.
- Define patch placement, adhesion, comfort, power, and thermal constraints.
- Create a failure-mode table for false cues, missed cues, skin contact loss, and parent fatigue.
Decision gate
Is there a signal path worth prototyping on the body?
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61–90 days
phase 03 of 03
Prepare human-factors and feasibility work
Turn the technical experiment into a study-ready product program.
- Draft a repeated-night usability protocol for comfort, adherence, and setup burden.
- Recruit pediatric continence, wearable sensing, regulatory, and manufacturing advisors.
- Build a funding memo tied to signal feasibility, cue lead time, and usability gates.
Decision gate
Is DryNight ready for a controlled prototype build and clinician-reviewed feasibility plan?
Failure modes, named first
A pre-prototype company earns trust by naming its own failure modes before anyone else has to.
- Overnight signal quality
- Patch placement drift
- Motion artifacts
- Sleep posture
- Skin contact and comfort
- Power and battery limits
- False alarms and missed cues
- Useful lead time before voiding
- Parent fatigue
- Pediatric safety and usability
DryNight is not FDA-cleared, not clinically validated, and not available for diagnosis, treatment, or medical decision-making. The current work is feasibility, human factors, and study design.
05 · Market focus
Start with the child who hides the sheets.
DryNight starts with pediatric nocturnal enuresis because the pain is specific, recurring, and poorly served by existing consumer tools. Adult incontinence remains a relevant expansion path, but the first proof point has to be narrow.
Pediatric nocturnal enuresis.
The first user is a child who can sleep through a full bladder and a parent trying to help without shame. The initial product experience should be private, comfortable, and narrow enough to test rigorously.
- Market signal
- Families already buy alarms, mattress protection, and repeated workarounds
- Validation path
- Bench testing, overnight usability, and pediatric continence input
Later · Expansion market
Long-term care and aging.
The same type of early bladder signal could eventually support older adults and caregivers. That market has different workflows, liability, staffing constraints, and reimbursement questions, so it belongs after pediatric feasibility.
- Market signal
- Home care and long-term care once the signal is validated
- Validation path
- Workflow interviews before committing to a care-facility study
Public record
A founder story investors can verify.
DryNight is still early, so the founder section has to answer a specific diligence question: is Elvis a credible healthcare operator with a public record in underserved care, global health leadership, and digital-health execution? These references support that operating context. They do not validate the device.
- Origin
Healthcare access founder
Unite for Health describes Elvis building from frontline healthcare experience in Cameroon into the first Unite for Health micro-clinic. Columbia World Projects also lists him as Founder and President of Unite for Health Foundation, focused on access to basic healthcare in underserved communities.
- Selection
Obama Foundation Scholar
The Obama Foundation lists Ndansi Elvis Nukam in its 2018–2019 Columbia University Scholars cohort and identifies him as Founder and President of Unite for Health Foundation in Cameroon.
- Leadership
Mandela Washington Fellow
Wagner College profiled Elvis Ndansi Nukam during the Mandela Washington Fellowship and described his community-health work, nursing and public-health background, and plan to expand Unite for Health micro-clinics.
- Execution
Current digital-health operator
Carna Health publicly named Elvis Ndansi, MS, MPH, as Chief of Global Population Health in a 2024 leadership announcement for its kidney-care screening and monitoring platform.
- Continuity
Recent public healthcare profile
A later Obama Foundation alumni story lists Elvis as Chief of Global Population Health at Carna Health and Founder and President of Unite for Health Foundation, connecting the founder story to his current healthcare operating role.
Evidence boundary
- These sources establish founder operating context and a public track record in healthcare access.
- They do not validate DryNight's sensor performance, clinical utility, or regulatory status.
- DryNight still has to earn product confidence through feasibility work, usability testing, clinical validation, and regulatory review.
Team
One founder, one company, one first question.
DryNight is Elvis's company. The team will grow around the work. The seats are named plainly so it is clear where the company is, what expertise is still missing, and what support is exploratory rather than committed.
Highest-priority gaps
- 01 Pediatric urology or continence-study advisory leadership
- 02 Biomedical sensing and wearable engineering
- 03 Regulatory affairs (medical devices)
- 04 Quality, manufacturing, and supply-chain planning
What is exploratory versus committed
These are areas of active exploration, not announced partnerships or signed advisors. Names will appear only when there is actual permission and commitment.
- Wearable engineering and sensor architecture conversations
- Pediatric continence research-site discovery
- Long-term-care workflow and reimbursement learning
Contact
Help shape the product before claims are made.
DryNight needs grounded input from families, clinicians, engineers, care operators, and investors before the company turns the concept into a device. Use this form for feedback, research conversations, partnership ideas, manufacturing leads, or funding conversations.
Best-fit outreach right now: families with lived experience, pediatric continence clinicians, research partners, wearable sensing engineers, regulatory operators, manufacturing partners, and investors who care about feasibility discipline more than early polish.
What happens next
Every note is read by Elvis. Your role and interest route it: family feedback, clinical conversations, manufacturing leads, or investor outreach. Follow-up happens when a real conversation would help, and your address never lands on a mailing list.
The fastest way to shape this product is to tell us where it would fail in your home, clinic, or facility.