Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026
11:46
Urinary Bladder Distention Evoked Visceromotor Responses as a Model for Bladder Pain in Mice
Published on: April 27, 2014
Estimating bladder pressure from sacral dorsal root ganglia recordings
Tim M Bruns1, Robert A Gaunt, Douglas J Weber
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. tmb59@pitt.edu
Summary
Researchers explored using sacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neuron recordings for bladder pressure monitoring. This method shows promise for high-quality sensory signals, offering a potential improvement over current nerve cuff techniques for bladder state tracking.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomedical Engineering
- Urology
Background:
- Dysfunctional bladders require effective monitoring solutions.
- Current nerve cuff recordings for bladder state detection suffer from low signal quality and interference.
- Sacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons offer a potential alternative for high-quality sensory signal acquisition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of using microelectrode recordings from sacral DRG neurons for bladder pressure monitoring.
- To determine if DRG neural activity can accurately estimate bladder pressure.
Main Methods:
- Penetrating microelectrode arrays were implanted in the S1 and S2 DRG of two cats.
- Afferent spiking activity from DRG neurons was recorded at various bladder pressures.
- Multivariate linear regression models were employed to correlate neural activity with bladder pressure.
Main Results:
- Estimates of bladder pressure were achieved using DRG neuron spiking activity.
- Optimal pressure estimation involved populations of 5-10 neurons, primarily from the S2 DRG.
- The best models achieved root mean square errors of 3.0-3.2 cm H2O with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.5 to 0.9.
Conclusions:
- Recording afferent activity from sacral DRG neurons is a feasible method for monitoring bladder pressure.
- This approach offers a promising alternative for high-quality bladder state sensing.
- Further research could lead to improved devices for individuals with bladder dysfunction.
