New reconfigurable ultrasonic enuresis monitoring system

Nocturnal enuresis (bed-wetting) is a common disorder for children between the ages of 5 and 15. Though the problem usually clears up on its own, nocturnal enuresis sometime leads to serious psychological and social consequences if not dealt with properly. Behavior modification approaches, such as the enuresis alarm system, have been clinically proven to be the only nocturnal enuresis treatment strategy with persistent effectiveness. Available enuresis alarm systems, which condition the child to anticipate micturition, do not prevent bed-wetting during therapy. This paper describes the design of a new reconfigurable miniaturized ultrasonic monitor which wakens the patient a short time before his bladder reaches a critical volume (start of micturition). The detection approach is based on the evaluation of the biggest bladder's depth using an A mode pulse/echo technique. This enuresis alarm system is reconfigurable to adjust the threshold depth according to the child's bladder morphology. A 4/spl times/16 character LCD screen has been implemented to validate measurements performed during the upcoming clinical evaluation of the device.