High-tech way to tell if a trip to the loo can wait

IT’S a dilemma that we’ve all faced at some point – should you dash to the loo right away or can you wait?

Now experts have developed a hightech option which could remove guesswork from the delicate equation.

It involves a soft, battery-free implant which attaches to the wall of the bladder to sense how full it is.

This wirelessly transmits data to a smartphone app for users to monitor their bladder fullness in real time.

The device warns if they need to act quickly and can even direct them to the nearest toilet. US researchers said this is the first example of a bioelectronic sensor allowing continuous monitoring of the bladder for a prolonged period.

In small animal studies, the system successfully gave real-time readings of the organ filling and emptying for 30 days.

Then, in a study using primates, it did this for eight weeks. Academics said the device could radically benefit those with paralysis, spina bifida, bladder cancer or end-stage bladder disease.

Study co-leader Professor Guillermo Ameer, of Northwestern University, Illinois, said: ‘This work is the first of its kind scaled for human use. If bladder nerves are damaged from surgery or disease, then a patient often loses sensation.

‘They often have to use catheters, which are uncomfortable and can lead to painful infections.’ He added that current monitoring procedures are invasive, unpleasant and must be carried out in a hospital or clinical setting.

Multiple sensors are on the elastic-like device which stretches and contracts as the bladder fills and empties. Embedded Bluetooth technology transmits this information to the app.

Professor Ameer said the technology can stay inside the body or harmlessly dissolve after the patient recovers.

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.