Can an algorithm predict a voiding contraction in unconscious rats?

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a very common and serious disorder which can be classified in stress and urge incontinence, the latter mainly caused by an overactive bladder (OAB). A definitive treatment for OAB does not exist yet due to its complex nature. Therefore, more attention must be focused on improving the patient´s quality of life. A device able to alert the patient to development of a voiding contraction would be highly desirable, enabling actions to avoid incontinence. The main hypothesis of this work is that a voiding contraction is preceded by a consistent change in the pattern of intravesical pressure (p_ves). We developed an algorithm based on frequency analysis of p_ves recordings of two strains of rats whose bladders were first filled with saline (S fillings) and then with acetic acid (AA fillings); the latter was used as model for OAB in rats. The algorithm was designed to provide an alarm when an increase in the range 0.2-0.6Hz of the amplitude spectrum was detected. The accuracy of the algorithm has been tested and quantified, successful alarms were those taking place within fifty seconds before the start of voiding. Although the results are still very preliminary, due to the low number of tested animals, they seem encouraging since, in five rats, only one showed a percentage of success lower than 50%, with one rat reaching 100%. The accuracy of the algorithm is affected by the choice of the values for the controlling parameters, which have been set the same for all rats; future developments might include individual values for each rat.