Optical control of urinary bladder contraction using femtosecond-pulsed laser

Abstract

Even though catheterization or electric stimulation are used for treatment of neurogenic bladder, invasiveness and inconvenience of these approaches prompt us to develop a new possible therapeutic method to control urination by using optical stimulation. The optical method using femtosecond pulsed laser (FSPL) has advantages of focused and subsurface stimulation. Irradiation of FSPL induced a rapid increase of intracellular calcium level followed by contraction of primary cultured human bladder smooth muscle cells. Short exposure of bladder detrusor ex-vivo to FSPL also induced a controlled contraction of detrusor. Collectively, we propose that FSPL can be considered as a potential therapeutic approach for intractable neurogenic bladder. © 2011 SPIE.