McAdams Ian S, Majerus Steve J A, Hanzlicek Brett, Zorman Christian, Bourbeau Dennis, Damaser Margot S
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2018 Jul;2018:1592-1595. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2018.8512582.
New research tools are essential to help understand the neural control of the lower urinary tract (LUT). A more nuanced understanding of the neuroanatomy of bladder function could enable new treatment options or neuroprosthesis to eliminate incontinence. Here we describe the design, prototyping and validation of a sensing mechanism for a catheter-free fluid volume estimating system for chronic neurophysiological studies of the lower urinary tract and ambulatory urodynamics. The system consists of two stimulation electrodes, one sensing anode, and a microcontroller for control and recording. The packaged device is small enough to be surgically implanted within the bladder lumen, where it does not inhibit bladder function nor inflict trauma. Benchtop evaluation of the conductance-sensing system in simulated bladder-like conditions has demonstrated that the system can predict intra-vesical fluid volume with $< 5$ mL mean error below 40mL and worst-case mean error of 13mL near full-scale volume. These results indicate that conductance-based volume sensing of the urinary bladder is a feasible method for real-time measurement.
新的研究工具对于帮助理解下尿路（LUT）的神经控制至关重要。对膀胱功能神经解剖学有更细致入微的理解，可能会催生新的治疗方案或神经假体来消除尿失禁。在此，我们描述了一种用于下尿路慢性神经生理学研究和动态尿动力学的无导管液体体积估计系统传感机制的设计、原型制作和验证。该系统由两个刺激电极、一个传感阳极以及一个用于控制和记录的微控制器组成。封装后的设备体积小到足以通过手术植入膀胱腔内，在此处它既不会抑制膀胱功能，也不会造成创伤。在模拟膀胱条件下对电导传感系统进行的台式评估表明，该系统能够预测膀胱内液体体积，在40mL以下时平均误差小于5mL，在接近满量程体积时最坏情况平均误差为13mL。这些结果表明，基于电导的膀胱体积传感是一种可行的实时测量方法。
