Radiotelemetric manometry of the urinary bladder

: The standard procedure for manometric investigation of bladder function involves the use of a urethral catheter. The presence of this foreign body causes irritations, however, with a resultant increase in urethral resistance. This perturbs the micturition process, but it can be avoided by a new telemetric method of intravesical pressure measurements. A very small pressure gauge and radio emitter are introduced into the bladder, and the values measured are transmitted to an external receiver. Thus, for the first time, is possible to perform physiological studies of bladder function that do not require catheterization or special positioning of the patient and are well tolerated. Some examples are described, which show that this method allows repeated catheter-free investigations over longer periods of time and accurate evaluation of the effects of pharmacological products on bladder function.