Acoustic Bladder Volume Detection via Piezoelectric Echo Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current urodynamic testing for bladder fullness is invasive, uncomfortable, and often conducted in clinical settings, making it stressful and non-optimal for patients, particularly those with incontinence issues.
Innovation Solution
A device that uses sound waves with frequencies up to 20 kHz to assess bladder fullness by emitting and analyzing echoes, utilizing a piezoelectric percussion and sound detecting module to determine bladder volume, allowing for minimally invasive urodynamic studies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If current urodynamic testing methods are used, then bladder fullness can be assessed, but the procedure becomes invasive and uncomfortable for patients
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces invasive mechanical catheter-based measurement systems with acoustic wave-based detection. Sound waves are transmitted through the abdominal wall to detect bladder fullness, eliminating the need for internal catheters and direct mechanical contact with the bladder, thereby resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and patient comfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces acoustic waves as an intermediary medium to transmit information about bladder fullness from the internal bladder state to external detectors without requiring direct contact between the measurement device and the bladder. This intermediary approach allows accurate assessment while avoiding invasive procedures.
2Measurement precision
If current urodynamic testing methods are used, then quantitative bladder data can be obtained, but the procedure becomes stressful and requires clinical laboratory conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical urodynamic testing equipment and procedures with a simplified acoustic detection system. This substitution enables quantitative bladder assessment to be performed using portable devices in non-clinical settings, reducing patient stress and improving accessibility while maintaining measurement capability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If sound waves up to 20 kHz are used for bladder assessment, then a non-invasive method is achieved, but the frequency range is limited compared to ultrasound
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the acoustic frequency parameter within the audible range (up to 20 kHz) to achieve effective non-invasive bladder detection. By carefully selecting and tuning the frequency parameters within this constrained range, the system achieves sufficient measurement precision for clinical assessment while maintaining non-invasive operation, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and detection capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Provides a non-invasive and comfortable method to assess bladder fullness, enabling patients to gain control over their bladder and facilitating urodynamic analysis in non-clinical settings, with the device offering a percentage scale indication of bladder fullness from 0-100% with 10% graduations.
Implementation Method 1
a piezoelectric percussion and sound detecting module
Implementation Method 2
generating a soundwave in the vicinity of the urinary bladder such that the generated soundwave produces an echo reflective of the level of fullness of the urinary bladder
Data Source
AI summary
A bladder volume detection device, the device comprising a sound transmitter and at least one receiver the device configured to ping the bladder with an acoustic signal having a resonant frequency of up to about 20 k Hz generated with said transmitter.