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An integrated and flexible ultrasonic device for continuous bladder volume monitoring

Bladder volume measurement is critical for early detection and management of lower urinary tract dysfunctions. Current gold standard is invasive, and alternative technologies either require trained personnel or do not offer medical grade information. Here, we report an integrated wearable ultrasonic bladder volume monitoring device for accurate and autonomous continuous monitoring of the bladder volume. The device incorporates flexible and air-backed ultrasonic transducers and miniaturized control electronics with wireless data transmission capability. We demonstrate the real-life application of the device on healthy volunteers with various bladder shapes and sizes with high accuracy. Apart from the lower urinary tract dysfunctions, the proposed technology could also be adapted for various wearable ultrasonic applications.

Alp Timucin Toymus,#,1 Umut Can Yener,#,1 Emine Bardakci,#,2 Özgür Deniz Temel,2 Ersin Koseoglu,3 Dincay Akcoren,4 Burak Eminoglu,5 Mohsin Ali,6 Rasim Kilic,6 Tufan Tarcan,3,7 Levent Beker,8,9

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, Istanbul, 34450, Turkey.
  2. Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, Istanbul, 34450, Turkey.
  3. Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, Istanbul, 34450, Turkey.
  4. Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), One Analog Way, Wilmington, MA, 01887, USA.
  5. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
  6. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, Istanbul, 34450, Turkey.
  7. Department of Urology, Marmara University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
  8. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, Istanbul, 34450, Turkey.
  9. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer, Istanbul, 34450, Turkey.
#Contributed equally.

Source: Toymus AT., Yener UC., Bardakci E. et al. An integrated and flexible ultrasonic device for continuous bladder volume monitoring. Nat Commun. 2024 Aug 22;15(1):7216. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-50397-8.