Towards an optimized wearable neuromodulation device for urinary incontinence

The subject of this paper is a wearable device (probe) for treating urinary incontinence. The device is dedicated to trans-rectal stimulation of the pudendal nerve which is triggered by the external sphincter EMG signal. In an effort to identify the optimum stimulation parameters, a family of strength-duration curves with varying pulse repetition frequencies was generated. The electrode-tissue interface was modeled as an RC circuit and a heuristic method for estimating the model parameters was used. A 2D model of the electric field around the probe was also constructed, using finite element methods, to investigate further possibilities for optimization.