A biocompatible integrated bladder electronics for wireless capacity monitoring assessment

Abstract

The real-time assessment and personalized monitoring of human bladder status is important for individuals with involuntary voiding, overactive bladder and bladder disorders such as urinary incontinence. To address the shortcomings of traditional urodynamic methods where the equipment is bulky, complex, invasive, expensive and unable to continuously monitor bladder status, and to meet the needs of healthcare professionals and family members to know the patient’s bladder capacity, this paper designs the biocompatible integrated bladder electronics for wireless capacity monitoring assessment. The device employs chitosan, which exhibits favorable biocompatibility, to fabricate patch electrodes, and optimizes their performance through the plasticizing effect of glycerol, with a polarization resistance of 4.8983 kΩ, a maximum tensile force of up to 107.5 kPa, and remains chemically stable for long-term wear. The principle of bioelectrical impedance analysis is employed to integrate a hardware system comprising multiple modules, including a microcontroller, information processing, communication, display and power supply. After the integrated system design is completed with electrodes connected and encapsulated, data on bladder electrical impedance changes is gathered and transmitted wirelessly to the user interface for non-invasive real-time monitoring and intelligent assessment of bladder capacity. The experimental results demonstrate a high correlation between human bladder electrical impedance and bladder volume, with a systematic measurement correlation coefficient reaching 96.7%. The research equipment is portable, simple to operate, and radiation-free to the human body. It has significant potential for real-time monitoring and intelligent alarm of bladder capacity.

Keywords

Bladder disease / biocompatible electrodes / bioelectrical impedance analysis / integrated wearable electronics / wireless capacity monitoring

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