GEOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF RAT URINARY BLADDER WALL DURING EX-VIVO FILLING USING MICRO-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (MICRO-CT).

ABSTRACT

Current mechanical models of the bladder largely idealize the bladder as spherical with uniform thickness. This present study aims to investigate this idealization using micro-CT to generate 3D reconstructed models of rat bladders at 10-20 micrometer resolution in both voided and filled states. Applied to three rat bladders, this approach identifies shape, volume, and thickness variations under different pressures. These results demonstrate the filling/voiding process is far from the idealized spherical inflation/contraction. However, the geometry idealizations may be reasonable in cases where the filled bladder geometry is of importance, such as in studies of growth and remodeling.