Impedance monitoring device for preventing urinary incontinence

• US 5,103,835 A
• Filed: 04/25/1991
• Issued: 04/14/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nihon Kohden Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nihon Kohden Corporation
• Inventors: Yamada, Akio, Fuse, Masayoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Hindenburg, Max
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tucker, Guy V.
• Application Number:
  US07/691,474
• Time in Patent Office: 355 Days
• Field of Search: 128/637, 128/734, 128/748, 128/898, 128/885, 128/886, 128/774, 128/DIG. 25, 128/723, 128/693, 600/29, 600/30, 600/31
• US Class Current: 600/547
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/202 Assessing bladder functions, e.g. incontinence assessment
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/48 Devices for preventing wetting or pollution of the bed
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36007 of urogenital or gastrointestinal organs, e.g. for incontinence control

Abstract

A monitoring device for preventing urinary incontinence has the following components: a high-frequency constant-current power supply adapted to supply a pair of terminals which are set on the surface of a human body across the urinary bladder; a high-frequency voltage signal detecting means which conducts wave detection from a high-frequency voltage signal sensed by a pair of sensing electrodes which are set on the human body surface at positions on the path of the high-frequency electrical current flowing between the pair of terminals; a DC component detecting means 13 which detects the DC component of the signal detected by the high-frequency voltage signal detecting means; a variance component detecting means for detecting variance component of the signal detected by the high-frequency voltage signal detecting means; a variance-to-DC ratio computing means for computing the ratio between the DC component and the variance component; and a variance-to-DC ratio evaluating means for activating an informing means when the computed value of the variance-to-DC ratio has reached a predetermined threshold level.

Claims

1. A monitoring device for preventing urinary incontinence, comprising:

a high-frequency constant-current power supply adapted to supply a pair of terminals ,which are adopted to be positioned on the surface of a human body so that the current travels across the urinary bladder;

a pair of sensing electrodes which are adapted to be positioned on the human body surface at positions on the path of the high-frequency electrical current flowing between the said pair of terminals;

a high-frequency voltage signal detecting means which detects waves from a high-frequency voltage signal sensed by said pair of sensing electrodes;

a DC component detecting means which detects the DC component of the signal detected by the high-frequency voltage signal detecting means;

a variance component detecting means which detects the variance component of the signal detected by the high-frequency voltage signal detecting means;

a variance-to-DC ratio computing means for computing the ratio between the DC component and the variance component; and

a variance-to-DC ratio evaluating means for activating an informing means when the computed value of the variance-to-DC ratio has reached a predetermined threshold level indicative of a urinary volume at which a specific person feels desire to urinate.

2. A monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising a DC component variation judging means for judging whether the change in the DC component detected by said DC component detecting means falls within a credible range of change corresponding to increase in urinary volume;

and a variance component variation judging means for judging whether the change in the variance component detected by said variance component detecting means falls within a credible range of change corresponding to increase in urinary volume.