title: [Application of fluid mechanics and simulation: urinary tract and ureteral catheters.]
abstract: The mechanics of urine during its transport from the renal pelvis to the bladder is of great interest for urologists. The knowledge of the different physical variables and their interrelationship, both in physiologic movements and pathologies, will help a better diagnosis and treatment. The objective of this chapter is to show the physics principles and their most relevant basic relations in urine transport, and to bring them over the clinical world. For that, we explain the movement of urine during peristalsis, ureteral obstruction and in a ureter with a stent. This explanation is based in two tools used in bioengineering: the theoretical analysis through the Theory of concontinuous media and Ffluid mechanics and computational simulation that offers a practical solution for each scenario. Moreover, we review other contributions of bioengineering to the field of Urology, such as physical simulation or additive and subtractive manufacturing techniques. Finally, we list the current limitations for these tools and the technological development lines with more future projection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this chapter we aim to help urologists to understand some important concepts of bioengineering, promoting multidisciplinary cooperation to offer complementary tools that help in diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Bioingeniería y Tecnologías Sanitarias. Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión Jesús Usón. Cáceres.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gómez-Blanco
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Mecánica. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros. Universidad de Sevilla. Sevilla. España.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez-Reina
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Mecánica. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros. Universidad de Sevilla. Sevilla. España.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Bioingeniería y Tecnologías Sanitarias. Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión Jesús Usón. Cáceres.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blas Pagador
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Bioingeniería y Tecnologías Sanitarias. Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión Jesús Usón. Cáceres.
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Margallo
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Bioingeniería y Tecnologías Sanitarias. Centro de Cirugía de Mínima Invasión Jesús Usón. Cáceres.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Soria
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008348:Manikins; D062885:Urinary Catheters; D014553:Urinary Tract Physiological Phenomena