An implant and app to help control bladder function

Some diseases cause you to lose control of bladder filling, a problem that a team of scientists and has developed a device that allows, with an implant and an application, to monitor the function of that organ for a prolonged period.

The implant, which has been tested on animals, is soft, flexible and battery-free; It sticks to the bladder wall to detect filling and transmits data wirelessly and simultaneously to a smartphone app so the user can monitor bladder filling in real time.

The sensor system can also allow doctors to monitor their patients remotely and continuously to make more informed and faster treatment decisions, says Northwestern University, leader of the study published in PNAS.

“If the nerves in the bladder are damaged by surgery or a disease such as spina bifida, the patient often loses sensation and is not aware that his or her bladder is full,” explained Guillermo Ameer, from Northwestern and one of the signatories of the work.

To control the bladder, the new elastic device consists of several sensors that measure tension and expand as the organ fills.

When the sensors detect different levels of voltage, the device uses built-in Bluetooth technology to transmit that information to a smartphone or tablet.

He “key breakthrough” In this case, it is the development of super-soft, ultra-thin, stretchable band-shaped gauges that can gently wrap around the outer surface of the bladder, without imposing any mechanical restrictions on the natural filling and emptying behaviors.

In small animal studies, the system provided real-time measurements of bladder filling and emptying over 30 days and in primates over eight weeks.

Although the new technology is useful on its own, Ameer envisions it as one component of a fully integrated system for restoring bladder function.

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