Rap music might cure weak bladders

West Lafayette, Ind. (WLFI) - The days of parents screaming at their kids to turn down the rap music might soon be over. In fact, parents might be the ones blasting it, not into their ears, but against their bellies.

Purdue researchers discovered pulses from the bass in the rap music can actually help people who have been paralyzed and have a weak bladder.

"Rap music has a lot of high intensity components at the the lower frequency," said Purdue Electrical Engineering Professor Babak Ziaie. "So, when the music is playing, you have these bursts of pulses coming out of the device."

Purdue researchers said a balloon filled with water mimics the human bladder.

They built a sensor they said will pick up up vibrations from music, send a signal through the body and allow patients to be in control of their bodily functions.

Ziaie said they tested many genres of music including rock, classical and jazz. Many types of music were tested before discovering rap music worked best.

When asked which rap song worked best, Ziaie couldn't help but laugh.
    
"Ah, you'd have to ask my student," said Ziaie. "I don't listen to rap music."

"Of course, my professor, he wants to try classical music," said Purdue electrical engineering graduate student Albert Kim. "Yes, I have tried it, but the device didn't perform that well."

Kim, an expert rap listener, said he chose one song for a particular reason.

"The special song that I chose from J-Cole was 'Can I Live,' because it's one of my favorite songs," said Kim.

Researchers said Kim's favorite song turned out to be one that actually worked best with the sensor, due to the strong bass present in the song.

Ziaie said for now, the 2 centimeter size of the sensor limits its use to larger body organs like a bladder.

He hopes to shrink the sensor to a smaller size for more applications.

"We want to miniaturize this," said Ziaie. "If we make it smaller, we can put it in the brain to, for example, measure brain pressure in the skull for patients who have Hydrocephalus for example."

Ziaie said the group is working with physicians at the Indiana University School of Medicine to test this on pigs.

He said that besides being fun, this method does have perks.

He said one perk is that it saves patients money, as you don't need an expensive transmitter or receiver, you just need the music.