Electronic system design for continuous bladder volume monitoring

Bladder volume is an important parameter assessed by healthcare professionals for the early diagnosis and treatment of lower urinary tract dysfunctions. While bladder catheterization remains the gold standard method, its invasive nature often deters patients, and it can potentially lead to various complications. To address this issue, non-invasive bladder volume measurements are conducted using ultrasound. However, this measurement method still requires a clinical setting, and patients are asked to keep a bladder diary. Unfortunately, this approach is not sufficient and efficient enough for continuous monitoring. Moreover, despite significant advancements in wearable ultrasound studies, which have shown great promise, integrating with electronic devices still requires a separate desktop electronic setup. However, our solution involves offering an ultrasonic bladder volume monitoring (UBVM) device, achieved by adding miniaturized electronic hardware to ultrasonic transducers embedded in a flexible patch. We have tested the accuracy of this device with healthy volunteers. Through a non invasive measurement method, the flexible ultrasonic patch placed on the lower abdomen, transmits signals of bladder volume measurements to a cloud system via an electronic board. By utilizing a smartphone application connected to the cloud system, both users and healthcare professionals can continuously monitor bladder volume values. This setup ensures constant and autonomous monitoring, providing convenience and ease for both users and healthcare professionals. We present an example of the application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the healthcare domain through the utilization of ultrasonic patch and electronic systems within our current setup. This thesis also paves the way for various wearable ultrasound projects that can incorporate IoT applications. Keywords: bladder, volume, flexible, ultrasonic, monitoring, continuous, IoT