A Systems Approach to the Passive Properties of the Urinary Bladder in the Collection Phase

Urology is that branch of medicine which is concerned with the treatment of diseases of the urinary tract in men and women and of the reproductive tract in men (Rous, 1973). It will be clear that in urology, physical properties as flow, pressure, volume, and their relations are very important. A more or less separate discipline has therefore arisen which is called "urodynamics". Urodynamics concerns the knowledge gathered by the study of the physical events during transport of urine from the kidneys to the outside world. A description of urodynamical research is given by Melchior (1975). From the description it can be seen that urodynamics is a research field which demands interdisciplinary teamwork. Therefore, and since the actual structure of the urinary system is very complicated like that of all physiological systems, it is a very suitable field for a systems approach. The first aim in such an approach must be to describe quantitatively and in physical terms the properties of the urinary tract or parts of it. This thesis reports the results of such an approach to the passive properties of the urinary bladder in the collection phase.