WeeCare: Towards Handheld Bladder Fullness Sensing with a Conformable Pad
This work provides a non-invasive, handheld solution for bladder monitoring in patients with bladder dysfunction, potentially reducing reliance on uncomfortable catheterization.
WeeCare introduces a conformable pad with fabric electrodes for on-demand bladder fullness sensing via electrical impedance tomography, addressing the challenge of electrode repositioning variability. In-silico, in-vitro, and in-vivo evaluations demonstrate feasibility, including tracking of voiding and filling dynamics.
Patients with bladder dysfunction often lose the sensation of bladder fullness and cannot void naturally, forcing reliance on fixed-schedule catheterization that is uncomfortable and risks complications. We present WeeCare, a handheld conformable pad with fabric electrodes for on-demand bladder fullness sensing using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). The central challenge is that repeated removal and reattachment can introduce variation in electrode position and contact quality. We assess WeeCare along three axes: in-silico simulations characterizing electrode layout and noise robustness, in-vitro phantom experiments across urine salinities and filling levels, and an in-vivo human measurement for bladder fullness sensing, voiding, and filling dynamics.