The Mentor Corporation manufactured their first 3 piece penile implant in 1973. The Mentor Corporation was located in Minnesota, USA. Mentor was acquired by Coloplast which is headquartered in Denmark. The Coloplast Titan was introduced in 2002.
Titan 3 Piece Penile Implant
The Titan – 3 piece penile implant consists of two cylinders, a reservoir and a pump. The patient compresses the pump and water fills the cylinders. The penis becomes rigid. The patient then compresses the release button located just above the pump. The penis then becomes flaccid.
Bioflex
The Coloplast Titan – 3 piece implant is constructed from silicone and a proprietary material called Bioflex. Bioflex is a very strong synthetic material. It addition, it is biocompatible. This means that Bioflex does not harm the tissue and it does not trigger an immunologic response. The success of the Titan implant is largely due to the discovery of Bioflex by the researchers who work for Coloplast.
Titan – Cylinders
In order to reduce the risk of implant infection, the surface of the implant has a hydrophilic coating. The term “hydrophilic” means that the surface of the implant attracts substances that are similar to water. This hydrophilic coating has two benefits. The first benefit is that it prevents bacteria from sticking to the wall of the implant. This helps to reduce the risk of implant infection.
The second benefit of the hydrophilic coating is that it permits antibiotic solution to stick to the surface of the implant. The surgeon dips the implant into an antibiotic solution just before placing the implant into the patient. The surgeon can select the appropriate antibiotic for a particular patient. This benefits those patients who are allergic to a particular antibiotic.
The hydrophilic coating has resulted in a sharp decline in the rate of penile implant infection.
Titan – Pump
The pump consists of a bulb for cylinder inflation and a release button for cylinder deflation. The inflation bulb is designed to make the cylinders rigid with a minimum number of compressions.
The deflation button comes with two options. The first option is called “One Touch”. The patient firmly compresses the button once, and the cylinders become completely flaccid. The second option is the standard deflation button. This button is softer and is easier to compress. It requires, however, a longer period of compression in order for the cylinders to become flaccid.
Titan – Reservoir
The reservoir is seamless and leakage is rarely an issue.
The reservoir comes in two shapes – spherical and “Cloverleaf”.
The spherical reservoir is designed for placement in the pelvis next to the urinary bladder. Placement of the reservoir next to the urinary bladder is associated with several risks including damage to the bladder, damage to the bowel and damage to the large blood vessels.
The Cloverleaf reservoir is more easily concealed than the spherical reservoir. It is designed for placement in the wall of the abdomen behind the abdominal muscle. Placement of the reservoir in this location is safer than placement next to the urinary bladder. The Cloverleaf reservoir is ideal for patients who have undergone robotic radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer.
Finally, the reservoir contains a lock-out valve designed to prevent auto – inflation of the device. Auto – inflation results in a spontaneous erection as a result of the movement of fluid from the reservoir to the cylinders. This can result in an embarrassing situation. Fortunately, the lock – out valve makes auto – inflation a rare occurrence.
Titan – Tubing
The Coloplast tubing is Nylon reinforced and is kink resistant. Leakage of saline from the tubing is rarely an issue.
In addition, the tubing connects to the implant at a zero degree angle. This makes insertion of the penile implant, by your surgeon, a bit easier.
Titan Models
The Coloplast Titan comes in three models – the Titan Touch, The Titan and the Titan Narrow Base.
Titan Touch
The Titan Touch penile implant has a deflation button that allows for complete deflation of the implant with a single compression of the deflation button. The patient must be able to firmly squeeze this button in order to deflate the device.
Titan
The Titan has the standard release button. This release button is soft and is easy to squeeze. It does, however, require a compression of longer duration in order to allow the implant to become completely flaccid.
Titan Narrow Base
This implant is designed for the short narrow penis. This model is also ideal for the patient whose penis has become scarred due to either prior implant infection, Peyronie’s disease or priapism.
Implant Sizes
The Titan and the Titan Touch come in various lengths including 14 cm, 16 cm, 18 cm, 20 cm and 22 cm. The Titan Narrow Base comes in a number of shorter sizes.
The implants also comes with Rear Tip Extenders. These are small cones that attach to the rear of the cylinder. Rear Tip Extenders range in size of 1 to 4 cm. They effectively make the implant longer and they allow for more precise sizing of the penile implant.