Development and future prospects of the artificial urinary sphincter.

Background: Urinary incontinence is a urinary disorder in which urine leaks out involuntarily. This disorder seriously affects the quality of life of patients. For patients with mild incontinence, conservative treatment and medication may be the ideal treatment modality, but for patients with severe incontinence, an artificial urinary sphincter is currently a better treatment option.

Methods: In order to design an ideal artificial urinary sphincter, this article first searched and collected literature based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses searched strategy by selecting specific subject terms and reviewed the artificial urinary sphincters that are currently in the research stage based on different activation methods.

Results: In response to the deficiencies of the existing artificial urinary sphincter, this article discusses the future optimization of the artificial urinary sphincter from three aspects: individual improvement of the artificial urinary sphincter, engineering design elements, and optimization of the artificial urinary sphincter manufacturing process.

Conclusions: The manufacture of an idealized artificial urinary sphincter capable of meeting clinical needs is of great importance to improve the quality of life of patients. However, this approach is a reasonable option to explore and should not be overestimated until further evidence is available.