PURPOSE: To maintain physiologic intravesical pressure is important in preventing secondary renal functional impairment in patients with voiding problems like neurogenic bladder or severe bladder outlet obstruction. Therefore, if real-time monitoring of the intravesical pressure were possible, physicians could not only monitor voiding status more precisely but also manage patients with voiding problems appropriately to protect renal function. In this study, we evaluate the validity of the prototype intravesical pressure sensor in a rabbit model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The manufactured prototype intravesical pressure sensor was placed into the intravesical space of each of 3 rabbits. Conventional cystometry was performed and the intravesical pressure was measured by the prototype intravesical pressure sensor at the same time in all of the animals. The measured intravesical pressure by the prototype intravesical pressure sensor was compared with the measured value by conventional cystometry. The reliability between the two methods was determined using cross-table analysis. RESULTS: In each of the 3 animals, the index of coincidence was observed as 0.70, 0.79, and 0.77, respectively. This result meant that the intravesical pressure monitoring by the prototype intravesical pressure sensor showed good reproducibility with respect to the continuous intravesical pressure monitoring by conventional cystometry. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we demonstrated the reliability of the prototype intravesical pressure sensor to monitor intravesical pressure change compared with the conventional cystometric result. Further investigations to overcome the limitations of the prototype intravesical pressure sensor will be necessary for real clinical application.
Animals ; Humans ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Rabbits ; Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction ; Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic ; Urination Disorders ; Urodynamics