With this special equipment and an appropriate understanding of a particular patient's problem, even the most complex problems determined. Each one of these tests provides different and valuable information about a how a patient's bladder is working. A uroflow test is usually done first. The patient is asked to simply urinate in a special toilet that measures the speed and volume of urine produced. This information may help the doctor figure out the way in which a patient voids.
Most people void in a continuous fashion, once they start, until the bladder is empty.
Some women have to strain and push on the bladder in order to empty and will void in a very intermittent fashion, and have a weak stream. Multichannel cystometry is done by placing a small catheter with a special device on the end that can measure pressure in the bladder. A second catheter is placed in the vagina or rectum. The study is usually done in the standing or sitting position. Sterile water or saline is slowly pumped into the bladder.