Performance of an ultra wideband radar for detection of water accumulation in the human bladder

This paper presents an Impulse Radio Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) radar for detecting water accumulation in the human bladder. The goal is to monitor the level of urine in patients who suffer from urinary incontinence. This is achieved by detecting the reflected UWB signals from the boundaries of human tissues such as muscle and urine. The reflection properties are investigated both in a simulator with a bladder model and through measurements with a phantom model. The performance of the vivaldi antenna is investigated with regards to the pulse distortion due to the near field effect and signal attenuation in the far field. The simulation and the measurement results show the potential of water detection of the human bladder by using UWB pulses.