Title: A Clinical and Finite Elements Study of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women Using Fluid-Structure Interactions,
Abstract: Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) or urine leakage from urethra occurs due to
an increase in abdominal pressure resulting from stress like a cough or jumping
height. SUI is more frequent among post-menopausal women. In the absence of
bladder contraction, vesical pressure exceeds from urethral pressure leading to
urine leakage. Despite a large number of patients diagnosed with this problem,
few studies have investigated its function and mechanics. The main goal of this
study is to model bladder and urethra computationally under an external
pressure like sneezing. Finite Element Method and Fluid-Structure Interactions
are utilized for simulation. Linear mechanical properties assigned to the
bladder and urethra and pressure boundary conditions are indispensable in this
model. The results show good accordance between the clinical data and predicted
values of the computational models, such as the pressure at the center of the
bladder. This indicates that numerical methods and simplified physics of
biological systems like inferior urinary tract are helpful to achieve the
results similar to clinical results, in order to investigate pathological
conditions.