Nienke Idsardi, who is studying Technical Medicine at the University of Twente, is helping the Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (Wilhelmina Children's Hospital) in Utrecht to develop a talking toilet for children.
Nienke is developing a ‘urination meter’ that can be hung in toilets. Children can then use an app to get feedback about how they urinate. On Thursday 20 April, Nienke presented details of her research to the conference of the prestigious European Society for Paediatric Urology (ESPU), in Barcelona.
Just under ten percent of schoolchildren still experience daily incontinence. Some of these children suffer from dysfunctional voiding. This means that these children have acquired incorrect urinating habits.
The Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (WKZ) in Utrecht is developing a home trainer (talking toilet) for children who suffer from incontinence. After using this talking toilet (TT) to urinate, children receive feedback about their urination pattern, which might indicate that they should take more time to urinate, or that they need to relax their pelvic floor more.
Collecting data
However, there was so little difference between the various types of feedback that the children using the TT ended up just turning the sound off. After looking into this matter, Jorinde Kortenbout (a student at the University of Twente) questioned the usefulness of focusing on the children’s urination patterns. In addition, the TT was primarily developed for use in secondary care. The Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis provides tertiary care, so it is actually the option of last recourse for children suffering from incontinence. While doing research for her Master’s degree, Nienke Idsardi collected data from patients in the secondary care system. This data was then used in the context of outpatient care.
“In secondary care, the children’s urination patterns did indeed reflect a clear learning curve. No such effect was seen in tertiary care”, explains Nienke Idsardi. “This means that tertiary care staff who work with home trainers will have to focus on other aspects. However, this approach is still a viable option for secondary care.”
Feedback via app
While the Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis plans to continue development work on the TT, it will modify the concept in line with Nienke’s research findings. “The children themselves say they don’t think the current TT looks much like a real toilet. Also, they don’t like the fact that it can’t be installed in the lavatory at home and has to be set up in another room instead. The latest technological development is a uroflowmeter, which hangs in the toilet bowl, allowing the children to use a normal toilet. In addition, these flow meters will be linked to an app that features a serious game. The children receive feedback from this app, and they also have to keep a record of some things themselves. That way they can earn points, which enable them to progress in a game that is linked to the app.”
About Nienke
Nienke Idsardi is studying for a Master's in Technical Medicine, at the University of Twente. She has already completed the Bachelor’s programme in Technical Medicine. She is currently following the Medical Sensing and Stimulation Master’s track. Her internship supervisor at the Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis submitted details of her research to the European Society for Paediatric Urology (ESPU) conference, in Barcelona, where she was then invited to present her findings. On Thursday 20 April, she told her story.
Technical Medicine
Healthcare is changing rapidly, becoming ever more complex. New technologies are increasingly being used, and fresh innovations are being introduced all the time. This requires specialists whose in-depth knowledge of both medicine and technology, as well as the associated skills, can be used to benefit individual patients. Technical Medicine prepares students for this very future.
Further details are available at: https://www.utwente.nl/en/tm/
