Multi-Sensor Catheter Diagnosing Stress Urinary Incontinence
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for diagnosing stress urinary incontinence (SUI) are inadequate in accurately assessing the physiological abnormality due to the complex interaction between respiratory maneuvers and intrinsic sphincter activity, often resulting in false negatives and incomplete diagnosis.
Innovation Solution
A urinary catheter system equipped with pressure sensors at the bladder, mid-urethral, and external urethral sphincters, along with a rectal catheter, processes data during breath cycles and involuntary reflex cough events to diagnose SUI by measuring pressure changes and electromyographic signals, providing a comprehensive evaluation of sphincter function.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional SUI diagnosis systems are used, then the diagnostic process is simple, but the measurement precision is insufficient leading to false negatives
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple pressure sensors (bladder pressure sensor, mid-urethral pressure sensor, external urethral sphincter pressure sensor) and EMG sensors into a single integrated catheter system. This merging of multiple measurement functions into one device enables comprehensive sphincter evaluation while maintaining practical usability, resolving the contradiction between diagnostic accuracy and system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter system is designed to perform multiple diagnostic functions simultaneously: measuring bladder pressure, mid-urethral pressure, external urethral sphincter pressure, and EMG signals. This multi-functionality allows the single device to provide comprehensive SUI diagnosis, improving measurement precision without requiring multiple separate devices that would increase overall system complexity
2Measurement precision
If single-point pressure measurement is used, then the device complexity is low, but the measurement precision of sphincter function is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is segmented into multiple sensing zones, each equipped with pressure sensors at specific locations: bladder pressure sensor at the bladder end, mid-urethral pressure sensor at the mid-urethral region, and external urethral sphincter pressure sensor at the sphincter region. This segmentation allows independent measurement of pressure at each critical location, providing precise sphincter function assessment while organizing complexity into manageable segments
3Reliability
If respiratory maneuvers are not considered, then the diagnosis process is straightforward, but the reliability of SUI diagnosis is reduced due to false negatives
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring the correlation between respiratory maneuvers (inspiration/expiration) and sphincter pressure changes. The processing device analyzes this feedback loop, comparing pressure data during different respiratory phases to distinguish true sphincter dysfunction from normal respiratory-related pressure variations, thereby improving diagnostic reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of respiratory patterns and correlates them with pressure data before making the final SUI diagnosis. By pre-establishing the relationship between respiratory maneuvers and expected pressure changes, the system can more reliably identify abnormal patterns, reducing false negatives while managing complexity through structured data processing
Data Source
AI summary
A system evaluates a patient for a physiological abnormality. A urinary catheter is insertable within a patient's bladder and has a first pressure sensor for measuring bladder pressure and a second pressure sensor for measuring mid-urethral pressure at the mid-urethral sphincter. A processing device is connected to the first and second pressure sensors and configured to receive the measured bladder pressure and measured mid-urethral pressure during at least one breath cycle and process the data representative of the bladder and mid-urethral pressures obtained during the at least one breath cycle to diagnose a physiological abnormality within the patient.