tight seal with the body to the extent the ring is used to form a seal with the body third the ring serves as a rigid surface against which sleeve 18 can press under its radial restoration force to secure and seal the neck component of the external catheter between the ring and the sleeve more specifically the sleeve 18 is made of a resilient slightly flexible material such as by way of example a synthetic rubber of the like and can be formed to fit the shaped ring 38 see fig4 and 5 in use the probe tip 14 is inserted slightly into the vaginal opening to position the opening in the sleeve 18 and the ring 38 in alignment with the urinary meatus opening the index and forefingers are used to apply axial pressure to the ring such that the ring is held firmly against the tissue around the urethral meatus by the index and forefingers with the neck 32 extending through the fingers and the bag positioned on the back side of the hand in this embodiment while the enlarged portion of the neck is very flexible the smaller portion will be more firm so that it does not.