Correlation of ultrasound bladder vibrometry assessment of bladder compliance with urodynamic study results

The objective of this study is to assess correlation between bladder wall mechanical properties obtained by ultrasound bladder vibrometry (UBV) and urodynamic study (UDS) measurements in a group of patients undergoing clinical UDS procedure.

Concurrent UBV and UDS were performed on 70 patients with neurogenic bladders (56 male and 14 female). Bladder wall mechanical properties measured by UBV at different filling volumes were correlated with recorded detrusor pressure (Pdet) values. Mean, median and standard deviation of correlation values were calculated and the significance of these observations was tested.

Bladder wall mechanical properties obtained by UBV as group velocity squared and elasticity showed high correlations with Pdet measured at different volumes (median correlation 0.73, CI: 0.64-0.80 and 0.72, CI: 0.56-0.82 respectively). The correlation of group velocity squared and elasticity with Pdet were both significantly higher than 0.5.

The results of this study suggest that UBV can closely monitor changes in bladder wall mechanical properties at different volumes in a group of patients undergoing UDS. The high correlation between UBV parameters and detrusor pressure measurements suggests that UBV can be utilized as a reliable and cost-effective tool for assessment of the bladder wall mechanical changes in a noninvasive fashion.