Multi-Regional Pelvic Floor Muscle Function Diagnosis System Based on Inflatable Stretchable Electrode Array.

Background: Effective prevention and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) necessitates the identification of lesions within the complex pelvic floor muscle (PFM) groups associated with various symptoms. Here, we developed a multi-region pelvic floor muscle functional diagnosis system (MPDS) based on an inflatable stretchable electrode array, which aids in accurately locating areas related to PFD.

Methods: Clinical diagnostic experiments were conducted on 56 patients with postpartum stress urinary incontinence (PSUI) and 73 postpartum asymptomatic controls. MPDS collects pelvic floor electromyography from all participants. By assessing EMG parameters such as activation time differences (ATD) and using Jensen-Shannon (JS) divergence to verify, with the aim of locating target muscle groups with functional abnormalities.

Results: Clinical test results showed that by observing the AT sequence of the PSUI group and the control group, muscle groups with functional abnormalities in the Pubococcygeus muscle (PC) and Puborectalis muscle (PR) regions could be preliminarily diagnosed. In the assessment of regional muscle contribution values based on JS divergence, it was verified that the contribution values of rapid contraction in the PC and PR regions of the PSUI group were relatively lower compared to those of the control group, which correlated with urinary control dysfunction.

Conclusions: These experiments demonstrate that the MPDS helps in accurately locating target muscle groups with functional abnormalities, showcasing its potential in precise assessment of complex muscle groups such as PFM, which may improve diagnostic precision and reliability.