Affiliations: Department of Mechatronics and Precision Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980‐8579, Japan Tel./Fax: +81 22 217 5879; E‐mail: mami@rose.mech.tohoku.ac.jp | Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai 980‐8574, Japan | Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Sendai 980‐8579, Japan | Department of Urology, Tohoku Kosai Hospital, Kokubuncho, Sendai 980‐0803, Japan
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the development of an artificial urethral valve driven by shape memory alloy actuators, which is attached onto the urethra of a urinary incontinence sufferer for treating the involuntary micturition. Three types of compact cylindrical valves are assembled and their opening and closing functions are examined experimentally. The updated valve is heated and opened by using the transcutaneous energy transformer consisting of a pair of flexible spiral‐formed copper wire coils. The experiment using the canine urinary canal verifies that the total system of the valve and the transformer works well as an artificial sphictor muscle and controls the urinary flow through the canal appropriately.
