Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32234371›Full record

ArticleThe journal of sexual medicine2020

The Successful Measurement of Clitoral Pulse Amplitude Using a New Clitoral Photoplethysmograph: A Pilot Study.

Daisy J Mechelmans, Wendelin L Sachtler, Thomas E von Wiegand, David Goodrich, Julia R Heiman, Erick Janssen

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The journal of sexual medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 34% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Daisy J MechelmansInstitute for Family and Sexuality Studies, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Wendelin L SachtlerSensimetrics Corporation, Woburn, MA, USA.
Thomas E von WiegandSensimetrics Corporation, Woburn, MA, USA.
David GoodrichKinsey Institute, Indiana University, Lindley Hall, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Julia R HeimanKinsey Institute, Indiana University, Lindley Hall, Bloomington, IN, USA; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Erick JanssenInstitute for Family and Sexuality Studies, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Lindley Hall, Bloomington, IN, USA. Electronic address: erick.janssen@kuleuven.be.
Indiana University Bloomington · USKU Leuven · BE

Funding

VASCULAR SENSOR FOR WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCHR43HD065520 · NICHD · CORPORA SYSTEMS, INC. · PI SACHTLER, WENDELIN L. · 2011 to 2011
$147k
NICHD NIH HHS R43 HD065520
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough the clitoris is more sensitive to stimulation and its innervation more conducive to sensory feedback than the vagina, the field of sexual psychophysiology, which uses psychophysiological methods including genital response measures to study sexual arousal, relies heavily on the measurement of vaginal, rather than clitoral, pulse amplitude.

aimTo develop and test a new clitoral photoplethysmograph for the measurement of clitoral pulse amplitude (CPA).

methods2 versions of the new device, which differed in the orientation of the sensor and light source (parallel vs angled), were tested in 15 premenopausal, sexually functional women. Vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA) was assessed simultaneously. The women viewed a 3-minute erotic and an anxiety-inducing film segment with each clitoral sensor, interspersed with neutral video excerpts. In addition, they were asked to indicate their subjective level of sexual arousal during and after erotic video presentations. OUTCOMES: The main outcome measures are CPA, VPA, and subjective sexual arousal.

resultsThe clitoral photoplethysmograph successfully detected CPA. The quality of the signals was best for the angled sensor. Main effects of the film and the interaction between the film and epoch were stronger for the clitoral than for the vaginal device. In addition, CPA followed more closely changes in intensity of sexual films than VPA. Within- and between-subject correlations between genital response and subjective sexual arousal were higher for the clitoral than for the vaginal device. CLINICAL TRANSLATION: Comparison of CPA with other genital blood flow measures in clinical samples is indicated and may contribute to improved physiological assessments of sexual response in women. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: Our sample was small and consisted of healthy volunteers. Future research could examine test-retest reliability, by including multiple recording sessions, and further explore the specificity of CPA by comparing sexual and non-sexual stimuli with positive valence.

conclusionThis study presents the first instrument to successfully measure CPA. Mechelmans DJ, Sachtler WL, von Wiegand TE, et al. The Successful Measurement of Clitoral Pulse Amplitude Using a New Clitoral Photoplethysmograph: A Pilot Study. J Sex Med 2020;17:1118-1125.

Indexed as

ArousalClitorisFemaleHumansPhotoplethysmographyPilot ProjectsReproducibility of ResultsSexual BehaviorVaginaClitoral PhotoplethysmographyClitoral Pulse AmplitudeSexual ArousalVaginal Pulse Amplitude

Identifiers

PMID32234371
PMCPMC7282935
OpenAlexW3014085026

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.