Importance

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Abstract

Electrical stimulation of specific sensory nerves to control the filling and/or emptying of the urinary bladder. A wireless, injectable microstimulator is implanted into the soft tissues through which the sensory nerves pass, but where they are not normally accessible by conventional open surgical implantation of conventional electrical stimulators or electrodes with leads. In males, the dorsal penile nerves 6 are stimulated by a microstimulator injected into the dorsal quadrant of the penis. The activity induced in these nerves cause the spinal cord to generate reflex responses that result in relaxation of the detrusor muscle, increasing bladder capacity and preventing incontinence as a result of inappropriate bladder contractions. The sensory nerves, such as urethral afferents 4, supplying the urethra are stimulated by a microstimulator implanted into the corpus of the penis, adjacent to the urethra. The activity induced in the urethral afferents 4 cause the spinal cord to generate reflex responses that result in contractions of the detrusor muscle and relaxation of the sphincter 5, emptying the bladder.

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First Claim