Low-Power Wireless Micromanometer System for Acute and Chronic Bladder-Pressure Monitoring

This letter describes the design, fabrication, and testing of a wireless bladder-pressure-sensing system for chronic, point-of-care applications, such as urodynamics or closed-loop neuromodulation. The system consists of a miniature implantable device and an external RF receiver and wireless battery charger. The implant is small enough to be cystoscopically implanted within the bladder wall, where it is securely held and shielded from the urine stream. The implant consists of a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a pressure transducer, a rechargeable battery, and wireless telemetry and recharging antennas. The ASIC includes instrumentation, wireless transmission, and power-management circuitry, and on an average draws less than 9 mu A from the 3.6-V battery. The battery charge can be wirelessly replenished with daily 6-h recharge periods that can occur during the periods of sleep. Acute in vivo evaluation of the pressure-sensing system in canine models has demonstrated that the system can accurately capture lumen pressure from a submucosal implant location.