Urethral flow control valve and system and methods thereof
View Patent ↗A preferred embodiment of the present invention is a system composed of several devices that function together to selectively, on demand, control the flow of urine through the urethra. A valve also permits catheter-based elective or emergency instrumentation of the upper urinary tract without removal of the valve from the urethra. One aspect of the present invention is a body-implanted, coordinating system of devices for managing urine flow from a patient's urinary bladder through the urethra to the external environment primarily to prevent urinary incontinence with its sequelae. Another aspect of the present invention is a method or process for managing urine flow through a patient's urethra to prevent untimely and unintended incontinence of urine. The function and specific design of the valve assembly disclosed herein permits catheter-based elective or emergency instrumentation of the upper urinary tract without removal of the valve from the urethra.
1 . A process for managing urine flow from a patient's bladder through the patient's urethra comprising the steps of:
placing a pressure sensor on the patient's bladder;
placing a moisture sensor on the patient's urethra;
providing a data management system;
providing the data management system with a pressure signal receiver;
providing the data management system with a moisture signal receiver;
providing a urethra closing valve on the patient's urethra;
providing a signal receiver in the urethra closing valve for receiving signals from the data management system;
providing a urethra closing valve activation system operably connected to the urethra closing valve signal receiver;
measuring pressure in the patient's bladder and generating a bladder pressure level signal;
transmitting a bladder pressure signal to the data management system and receiving the bladder pressure signal in the data management system;
measuring moisture level in the patient's urethra and generating a urethra moisture level signal;
transmitting the urethra moisture level signal to the data management system and receiving the urethra moisture level signal in the data management system;
activating the urethra closing valve and occluding the urethra when pressure in the bladder exceeds a preset value; and
activating the urethra closing valve and occluding the patient's urethra when moisture in the patient's urethra exceeds a preset value.
2 . The process according to claim 1 , further including a step of activating the urethra closing valve when bladder pressure rises faster than a preset value.
3 . The process according to claim 1 , further including a step of activating the urethra closing valve when urethra moisture rises faster than a preset value.
4 . The process according to claim 1 , further including a step of manually activating the urethra closing valve.
5 . The process according to claim 1 , further including a step of activating an alert when the valve is closed.