Extensible Pelvic Floor Electrode Array Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pelvic floor electrode arrays struggle to accurately locate and measure the myoelectric signals of pelvic floor muscles due to inadequate design, leading to inaccurate measurements, signal interference, and instability in electrical features during expansion.
Innovation Solution
An extensible electrode array is designed with electrode plates and wires arranged to match the muscle fiber direction of pelvic floor muscles, allowing for accurate placement before and after expansion. The array includes flower-shaped electrode plates to release stress and ensure stability, and a method for determining optimal electrode placement using three-dimensional muscle anatomy maps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a hard-cavity single-electrode connection is used, then manufacturing convenience is improved, but signal accuracy and measurement precision deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible air bag electrode structure that can be inflated to conform to the pelvic floor muscle surface. This flexible membrane approach replaces the hard-cavity structure, enabling both ease of manufacture through simple inflation and high signal accuracy through close contact with the muscle surface, thereby resolving the contradiction between manufacturing convenience and measurement precision.
2Ease of manufacture
If electrode plates are arranged in a fixed pattern, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but adaptability to different muscle locations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes an inflatable air bag structure that dynamically adapts its shape and electrode distribution to match the specific anatomy of the patient's pelvic floor muscles. The air bag can be inflated to different degrees and configurations, allowing the electrode array to conform to various muscle locations and patient anatomies, thereby achieving high adaptability while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through a single flexible template.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the air bag is expanded to fit different patients, then biological fitness is improved, but electrode location accuracy deteriorates due to offset deviation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates pre-marked reference points and guidance lines on the air bag surface before inflation. These preliminary markings indicate the correct placement positions for electrodes relative to anatomical landmarks. By establishing these reference positions in advance, the system ensures that even when inflated to fit different patient anatomies, the electrodes maintain accurate correspondence with the underlying muscle locations, preventing offset deviation.
4Measurement precision
If high-density electrode array is used, then signal quality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates a high-density electrode array into a flexible air bag structure. The flexibility of the air bag allows the electrode array to conform to curved muscle surfaces, maintaining high signal quality through close contact. The single-piece inflatable design simplifies the overall device structure compared to rigid multi-component arrays, thereby achieving high signal quality without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an extensible electrode array (102) for accurately locating a pelvic floor muscle, and its design method and an extensible pelvic floor electrode. The design method includes: (1) obtaining a three-dimensional muscle anatomy map of a pelvic floor muscle, dividing a muscle according to the three-dimensional muscle anatomy map and determining a muscle fiber trend, and for each muscle, determining a plurality of three-dimensional coordinate points for marking each muscle along the muscle fiber trend (S101); (2) after projecting all three-dimensional coordinate projects onto a two-dimensional plane unfolded in a shape of an elastic cavity (101), taking each two-dimensional coordinate point in the two-dimensional plane as a location to dispose an electrode plate (S102); (3) simulating a mechanical property of the elastic cavity (101), and determining a deformation rate of an extensible electrode wire (105) of the electrode plate when the extensible electrode wire (105) of the electrode plate is arranged along a muscle fiber direction of the pelvic floor muscle (S103); and (4) according to a design result, mounting the electrode plate and the extensible electrode wire (105) on the elastic cavity (101) to form the extensible electrode array (102) (S104). The design method enables each electrode plate to locate the pelvic floor muscle before and after expansion, thereby improving accuracy in collecting a myoelectric signal of the pelvic floor muscle.