Robotic Implant System for Enhancing Urination (RISE-U)
Urinary incontinence (UI) is a prevalent condition that significantly impacts women’s quality of life, affecting physical, emotional, and social well-being. Effective management devices are essential in addressing this issue, as they offer non-invasive or minimally invasive solutions to restore bladder control and enhance daily functionality. These devices range from wearable pelvic floor trainers to advanced urethral inserts and slings, each designed to target the root causes of incontinence, such as weakened pelvic muscles or sphincter dysfunction. By improving continence, these technologies not only alleviate embarrassment and discomfort but also reduce the risk of secondary health issues like urinary tract infections and skin irritation. Furthermore, innovative devices empower women to regain confidence, maintain active lifestyles, and improve overall health, underscoring their critical role in advancing women's healthcare.
In this context, RISE-U aims to provide a modular solution for patients with UI, which is based on the combination of various engineering fields to restore the correct functionality. In this paradigm, a novel implantable device will be interfaced with an external control like a smartwatch, allowing the patient to monitor and control the system. The proposed device is able to harvest energy from the urine flow in the beginning phase of voiding and accelerate it in the end. The harvested energy will be utilized in the low power electronics for volume sensing, communication and sphincter control.
As research and innovation continue, implantable solutions hold the potential to revolutionize the standard of care, offering women a reliable, minimally invasive pathway to regain confidence and quality of life.
Previous projects
Implantable devices for screeing breast cancer and restoring urologic problems
Project: OxyForce - Oxygen and Force Sensing Solution for Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer
OxyForce is a non-invasive, cost-effective and safe tool that helps to improve early detection of breast cancer. This tool uses oxygen saturation levels as a biomarker to distinguish between malignant and benign breast lesions. The uniqueness of this tool lies in the combination of three different technologies, namely oxygen saturation sensing, force/haptic sensing, and AI.