Patent ID: 8398553

Claim:
A non-invasive method of monitoring the bladder volume in humans or animals, where the monitoring includes analysis of signals from a plurality of individual transducers including at least first and second individual ultrasound transducers, each transducer having an array comprising a plurality of transducer elements and a contact face, which arrays are arranged to transmit ultrasonic signals through an abdominal surface and to the bladder of an individual being monitored, wherein the method comprises arranging the transducers in spaced relation on the abdominal surface around and spaced from an axis which extends from a point on the abdominal surface to and through a point on or within the urinary bladder, wherein each transducer is arranged on the abdominal surface to scan the bladder using a scan plane which extends radially from the array to the bladder, wherein each of the transducers is arranged as a stand-alone array of ultrasound transducer elements combined into a single unit and so that the first transducer has a scan plane that intersects that of the second transducer; and further wherein the transducers are positioned away from the axis to emit and receive by reflection ultrasonic signals from the outer surface of the bladder so that the monitoring measurements define the outer surface of the bladder.