title: Non-invasive ultrasonic urination sensor for ambulatory patient support.
abstract: It is estimated that, in Japan, several million people suffer from urinary incontinence caused by, e.g., cerebrovascular disease, abdominal operations, spinal-cord damage, etc. Urinary incontinence is said to be a 'hidden' disease. When no adequate treatment is given, a serious situation may arise for both patients and their family. A non-invasive and unconstrained ultrasonic sensor has been designed enabling patients to discretely manage urination. The major problem of the sensor is how to maintain a proper irradiation angle to obtain an anteroposterior bladder diameter which corresponds to the actual bladder volume. Many types of ultrasonic probe holders have been tested and promising results have been obtained. The most practical, but as yet experimental, method is a four-element ultrasonic sensor, embedded in a flat probe.
authors.affiliation: Human Informatics Department, National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Tsukuba City, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hieda
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuchinomachi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeichi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006701:Home Nursing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation; D014463:Ultrasonography; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014556:Urine