关键词:
Electrical Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Low power, implant, wireless, biomedical, conductance, animal model, bladder, neuromodulation, catheter, device, sensor
摘要:
New research tools are essential to understanding neural control of the lower urinary tract (LUT) and could enable new treatments or neuroprosthesis to eliminate incontinence. Modern technologies enable real-time, catheter-free monitoring of bladder pressure, however variations in physiology among animals and people complicate interpretation of pressure data without bladder volume information. To date, no available technology achieves catheter-free, chronic monitoring of bladder volume. This thesis describes the design of a fully-wireless device for conductivity-corrected conductance measurements of fluid volume in a catheter-free system. The device consists of two electrodes, one sensing anode, and a microcontroller, and is small enough for surgical implantation within the bladder lumen. In-vitro benchtop testing demonstrated fluid volume prediction with <5mL mean error below 40mL and a 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 catheter-free urine volume measurement.