title: Electric impedance tomography for monitoring volume and size of the urinary bladder.
abstract: A novel non-invasive technique for monitoring fluid content in the human bladder is described. Specifically, a precommercial electric impedance tomograph (EIT) was applied to measure and visualize impedance changes in the lower torso due to changes in bladder volume. Preliminary measurements were conducted during routine urodynamic tests of nine male paraplegic patients, in whom a contrast agent was slowly infused into the bladder for diagnostic purposes. In some patients, a good correlation between bladder volume and EIT measurements was found, whereas in others the correlation was still good but inverted, presumably due to a poor electrode positioning. These preliminary results indicate that a sufficiently accurate finite element modeling of the impedance distribution in the abdomen, and proper electrode positioning aids, are important prerequisites to enable this technology to be used for routine measurement of bladder volume.
authors: Philips Chair for Medical Information Technology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
authors: Steffen
authors: S
authors: Leonhardt
authors: Axel
authors: A
authors: Cordes
authors: Harry
authors: H
authors: Plewa
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Pikkemaat
authors: Irina
authors: I
authors: Soljanik
authors: Klaus
authors: K
authors: Moehring
authors: Hans J
authors: HJ
authors: Gerner
authors: Rüdiger
authors: R
authors: Rupp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010992:Plethysmography, Impedance / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine*