Combination of CFD and DOE to analyze and improve the mass flow rate in urinary catheters

J Biomech Eng. 2009 Aug;131(8):084501. doi: 10.1115/1.3128692.

Abstract

The urinary catheter is a thin plastic tube that has been designed to empty the bladder artificially, effortlessly, and with minimum discomfort. The current CH14 male catheter design was examined with a view to optimizing the mass flow rate. The literature imposed constraints to the analysis of the urinary catheter to ensure that a compromise between optimal flow, patient comfort, and everyday practicality from manufacture to use was achieved in the new design. As a result a total of six design characteristics were examined. The input variables in question were the length and width of eyelets 1 and 2 (four variables), the distance between the eyelets, and the angle of rotation between the eyelets. Due to the high number of possible input combinations a structured approach to the analysis of data was necessary. A combination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and design of experiments (DOE) has been used to evaluate the "optimal configuration." The use of CFD couple with DOE is a novel concept, which harnesses the computational power of CFD in the most efficient manner for prediction of the mass flow rate in the catheter.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Humans
  • Models, Biological*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Rheology / methods*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Urinary Catheterization / instrumentation*
  • Urination / physiology*