The Invention of the Pipi-Stop (AntiNass)

The inventor

In 1932, when he was 18 years old, Ernst Bieri from Laupen/BE (Switzerland), was confronted in his own family to the difficulties caused by the enuresis. Every night his younger brother wetted his bed. For his mother this became a real headache. Useless to say that in these times neither diapers nor washing machines did exist. Ernst Bieri was touched by this problem and searched for a solution.

As an apprentice electrician, keen of the new possibilities offered by this job, it appeared reasonable to him that his research aimed to this field.

It needed much patience and a precise observation

He assumed that a system able to start an alarm at the moment of the nocturnal urination, could avoid his brother to wet completely his sheets and stay in his wet bed during the whole night. But before embarking upon any concrete development, he wanted to understand what was going on during his brother’s sleep.

Very patiently, he observed him night after night. He noticed that before the beginning of every urination he was moving, but dit not wake up. This observation led him to develop a urine detecting device which allowed to wake up his brother at the very beginning of his urination, with the help of an acoustic alarm and a flashing light.

Then came the success

After several weeks of using this system, he noticed that not only did his brother wake up, and consequently his bed was less wet, but also that he could retain his urine longer and longer; in this way, the moment of urination was retarded closer to the morning. Finally, he was completely cured of his bedwetting. He could smile again and his mother too.

He wanted also to help other children

With a wealth of experience behind him, Ernst Bieri wished that other children could be cured by his invention. That was fulfilled starting with 1933.

Short of financial means, Ernst Bieri sold this first device in order to build some more, which were sold too.

The first testimony of a doctor

Then he talked about his invention with a general practitioner, Dr E. Müller-Pradervand in Laupen (BE). As expected, the doctor was very interested in this device and invited Ernst Bieri to his practice for a demonstration, because he knew how resistent nocturnal enuresis was to all therapies that were not founded on a suggestive basis.

His testimony from the 16th July 1936 confirms the usefulness of the system AntiNass (literally: “anti-wet”). In this document, the doctor certified that he used this device with a great number of his patients and that all of them brought him the little “magic box” back, saying with glowing eyes, that they did not need it anymore.

His patent

Doctor Müller-Pradervand introduced Ernst Bieri at the municipal School doctors Office in Bern. Then the AntiNass system was constantly ordered by most of the orphanages, residential homes for children, reformatories and similar institutions. But the AntiNass was first patented under the number 185773.