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On Structure-Function Relationships in the Female Human Urethra: A Finite Element Model Approach

  • Bioengineering for Women’s Health
  • Published:
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Abstract

Remarkably little is known about urethral striated and smooth muscle and vascular plexus contributions to maintaining continence or initiating micturition. We therefore developed a 3-D, multiphysics, finite element model, based on sequential MR images from a 23-year-old nulliparous heathy woman, to examine the effect of contracting one or more individual muscle layers on the urethral closure pressure (UCP). The lofted urethra turned out to be both curved and asymmetric. The model results led us to reject the current hypothesis that the striated and smooth muscles contribute equally to UCP. While a simulated contraction of the outer (circular) striated muscle increased closure pressure, a similar contraction of the large inner longitudinal smooth muscle both reduced closure pressure and shortened urethral length, suggesting a role in initiating micturition. When age-related atrophy of the posterior striated muscle was simulated, a reduced and asymmetric UCP distribution developed in the transverse plane. Lastly, a simple 2D axisymmetric model of the vascular plexus and lumen suggests arteriovenous pressure plays and important role in helping to maintain luminal closure in the proximal urethra and thereby functional urethral length. More work is needed to examine interindividual differences and validate such models in vivo.

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Notes

  1. The diameter of the widest section of the vascular plexus layer along the urethra is less than 3 mm.23 The diameter of an 8 Fr catheter is 2.67 mm (1 Fr = 0.33 mm).

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (1 RC2 DK122379-01) and Procter & Gamble (through a research contract).

Conflict of interest

Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2350 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Ali Attari & James A. Ashton-Miller

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, 1540 E. Hospital Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    John O. DeLancey

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2350 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    James A. Ashton-Miller

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  1. Ali Attari
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  2. John O. DeLancey
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Correspondence to Ali Attari.

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Associate Editor Raffaella De Vita oversaw the review of this article.

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Attari, A., DeLancey, J.O. & Ashton-Miller, J.A. On Structure-Function Relationships in the Female Human Urethra: A Finite Element Model Approach. Ann Biomed Eng 49, 1848–1860 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-021-02765-4

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