In 2011, Dr. Niall Davis (co-founder) was a surgical trainee in urology under the tutelage of Mr Hugh Flood in University Hospital Limerick. He observed that urinary catheter balloon injuries were occurring on a frequent basis.

Urinary catheter related injuries typically occurred in men when the catheter’s anchoring balloon was inadvertently inflated in the urethra. Risk factors for catheter related injuries are the complex anatomy of the male urethra and the blind nature of the catheterisation technique. This recurring complication led to short-term complications in patients such as pain, bleeding and acute urinary retention. Over 75% of patients with severe catheter related inflation injuries developed long-term complications such as urethral stricture disease that required complex reconstructive procedures.

Although urinary catheter related complications are well described in the medical literature, currently there are no innovative mechanisms to prevent them from occurring and they receive little attention. As this was a persistent complication caused entirely by healthcare professionals he collaborated with Dr. Rory Mooney and Professor Michael Walsh to design a safe urethral catheter system that minimises urethral trauma despite inadvertent balloon inflation in the urethra. This collaborative process led to the development of the TUC Safety Valve.