A recent story in the Chicago Reader highlighted UIC's Dr. Craig Niederberger and his quest to engineer a bicycle seat that could help ameliorate restricted, pelvic blood flow that often occurs during bicycling and which has been linked to the occurence of erectile dysfunction in men.  Dr. Niederberger is Professor of Urology and Engineering at UIC and the Head of the Department of Urology.  He specializes in the fields of male infertility and erectile dysfunction and has been using ultrasound to map the arteries in the pelvic region of male bicyclists in an attempt to understand the forces that current bike seats exert on those arteries.  It is thought that occlusion forces which block blood supply to the genitals can lead to nerve and blood vessel damage and potentially, erectile dysfunction. 

Dr. Niederberger emphasizes that only a methodical, scientific approach with data collection and analysis will lead to a truly validated and better bicycle seat.  His research to date on existing bike seats seems to indicate that with a data driven approach, a new seat can be designed that will lessen the impedence of blood flow to the pelvic region while bicycling and consequently, lessen the potential risk for erectile dysfunction in men.

To hear Dr. Niederberger talk about his team's approach to building the bike seat of the future, please click here.