Neural network based forward prediction of bladder pressure using pudendal nerve electrical activity

Individuals with spinal cord injury or neurological disorders have problems in urinary bladder storage and in voiding function. In these people, the detrusor of bladder contracts at low volume and this causes incontinence. The goal of bladder control is to increase the bladder capacity by electrical stimulation of relative nerves such as pelvic nerves, sacral nerve roots or pudendal nerves. For this purpose, the bladder pressure has to be monitored continuously. In this paper, we propose a method for real-time estimating the bladder pressure using artificial neural network. The method is based upon measurements of electroneurogram (ENG) signal of pudendal nerve. This approach yields synthetic bladder pressure estimates during bladder contraction. The experiments were conducted on three rats. The results show that neural predictor can provide accurate estimation and prediction of bladder pressure with good generalization ability. The average error of 1-second and 5-second ahead prediction of bladder pressure are 9.62% and 10.54%, respectively.