AUA 2018: A Catheter Insertion Force Assessment Tool: Design and Preclinical Results

San Francisco, CA USA (UroToday.com) Xiaoyin Ling, master mechanical engineering student from the University of Minnesota, presented data that evaluated the efficacy of a novel catheter insertion force assessment tool for quantitatively measuring the force of urinary catheter insertion in situ. As an introduction, Ms. Ling explained how despite urethral catheterization being among the most common procedures performed, there is no standardized approach to Foley catheter insertion. There is also evidence of iatrogenic urethral injury occurring in 3.2 per 1000 male catheterizations, and of traumatic insertion contributing to catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

The device used gripped the Foley catheter between two jaws, kept open by a spring-assisted mechanism. Two one-degree-of-freedom 780g load cells were positioned in line with the jaws and deflected with catheter insertion. For wireless data transmission, two HX711 amplifiers, a Teensy 3.1 board, and a Bluetooth modem were used. All together at a total cost of $84, the device utilized a 14Fr Foley Catheter (Self-Cath®, Coloplast) and a silicone benchtop male LUT model (Life/form® Simulators) for pre-clinical device validation.

Following insertion force-time data collection, they determined the device had an accuracy of ± 0.2g and an average reading of 115.2 kHz for insertion of a 14Fr Foley in the silicone model.

Ms. Ling concluded that with these results, a future direction is to record more measurements in different simulators, then cadavers, and lastly in patients to measure the typical range of Foley catheter insertion forces. With this, they hope to improve simulators and standardized catheter insertion protocols, ultimately developing a training tool for current and future providers for catheter insertion.

Presented by: Xiaoyin Ling

Written by: Cyrus Lin, Department of Urology, University of California-Irvine at the 2018 AUA Annual Meeting - May 18 - 21, 2018 – San Francisco, CA USA