Design and implementation of a multichannel urinary incontinence prosthesis

A fully programmable, cell powered urinary incontinence prosthesis is presented. The system is composed of three main parts: two different external control units and a surgically implanted module. Communication between external and internal parts is made through a bidirectional inductive link. The implanted module is built around a full custom mixed-signal ASIC that generates different programmable current waveforms. This chip is mounted together with different satellite components on a hybrid circuit and housed together with a lithium cell in a hermetically sealed titanium case. The first external part of the system is intended for the physician and consists of a PC computer system with appropriate application software and hardware interface. It allows programming the internal part and verifying the system by reading out the main memory content and checking the lithium cell voltage level. The second external unit is to be used by the patient and consists of a simple switch allowing him to stop or to resume stimulation