A MEMS accelerometer-based real-time motion-sensing module for urological diagnosis and treatment

This paper reports a real-time motion-sensing module, which is realized by incorporating multiple MEMS accelerometers into a standard Foley catheter, for assisting diagnosis and treatment of stressed urinary incontinence. The accelerometers measure the orientations of the catheter at multiple points, so the shape of the urethra and movement of the bladder neck can be tracked in real time. An algorithm for extracting tilting, position and shape information from 3-axis MEMS accelerometers has been developed. The model of measurement errors for both static and dynamic testing is also established. The experimental results indicate that the module tracks the movement of the Foley catheter successfully in a real-time environment and the absolute error for static measurement is no more than 1.1° within the operation range.