Lower urinary tract dysfunction pertains to symptoms related to the lower urinary tract (LUT), with consequent incontinence. Artificial urinary sphincters (AUS) are adopted to obtain continence conditions, mainly in male subjects, via urethral occlusion by applying pressure load, mostly operating on the basis of an empirical approach. Considering the frequent access of elderly patients to this surgical practice, tissue degradation related to aging phenomena must be investigated. Computational models of the LUT structures and the AUS systems have been designed to evaluate tissues mechanical stimulation and degenerative phenomena for reciprocal interaction. Virtual solid models of the LUT have been developed starting from biomedical images, as histological/morphometrical data. Segmentation procedures have been exploited to provide the three-dimensional reconstruction, and subsequent discretization techniques led to the finite element model. Contemporarily, a finite element model of a typical AUS device was developed. Numerical analyses have been performed to analyze interaction phenomena between AUS and LUT. Different conditions were investigated, modifying both loading conditions, as intraluminal pressure and AUS action, and urethral tissues properties. Particular attention was devoted to tissues parameters, aiming to evaluate the influence of tissues degeneration because of aging and/or pathologies.

中文翻译：

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考虑尿道组织变性的下尿路与人工尿道括约肌相互作用现象的研究。

下尿路功能障碍与下尿路 (LUT) 相关的症状有关，从而导致尿失禁。采用人工尿道括约肌 (AUS) 来获得节制条件，主要是在男性受试者中，通过施加压力负荷的尿道闭塞，主要是在经验方法的基础上进行操作。考虑到老年患者经常接受这种外科手术，必须调查与衰老现象相关的组织退化。LUT 结构和 AUS 系统的计算模型旨在评估组织机械刺激和退化现象的相互作用。LUT 的虚拟实体模型是从生物医学图像开始开发的，作为组织学/形态测量数据。分割程序已被用于提供三维重建，随后的离散化技术导致了有限元模型。同时，开发了典型 AUS 设备的有限元模型。已经进行了数值分析来分析 AUS 和 LUT 之间的交互现象。研究了不同的条件，修改了两种负载条件，如腔内压力和 AUS 作用，以及尿道组织特性。特别关注组织参数，旨在评估由于衰老和/或病理引起的组织退化的影响。已经进行了数值分析来分析 AUS 和 LUT 之间的交互现象。研究了不同的条件，修改了两种负载条件，如腔内压力和 AUS 作用，以及尿道组织特性。特别关注组织参数，旨在评估由于衰老和/或病理引起的组织退化的影响。已经进行了数值分析来分析 AUS 和 LUT 之间的交互现象。研究了不同的条件，修改了两种负载条件，如腔内压力和 AUS 作用，以及尿道组织特性。特别关注组织参数，旨在评估由于衰老和/或病理引起的组织退化的影响。