Researchers Develop New Sensors That Can Perform Bedside Urine Test

Aug, 2022 - By WMR

With this new technology researchers can create smart diapers that can perform bedside urine test, facilitating urine analysis for bedridden patients

Wearable sensor technology continues to improve day by day with active research and development. These sensors are necessary for achieving personalized health management through constant monitoring of health status of individuals. Now, researchers at Sun Yat-Sen University in China developed a new sensor technology that can be used in diapers to perform bedside urine tests, making urine analysis easier for bedridden patients.

The researchers developed a new sensors with the size of a US quarter containing an array different electrodes. The researchers attached these electrodes to a circuit board provided with a lithium-ion battery and Bluetooth module. These electrodes can detect potassium ions, sodium ions, hydrogen peroxide uric acid and glucose; and all these components are biomarkers related to different health conditions. The researchers further tested the sensor on urine samples collected from three participants, where they found that the sensors perform with same efficiency as that of conventional urine analysis system. The researchers also tested paper test strips that are one of the alternatives, however were found to be not enough sensitive.

Furthermore, when the researchers integrated array of these five different electrodes into an adult diaper, it performed efficiently when the researchers added urine into it. According to the scientists, in real world situations where diaper starts getting dry and then gets saturated, the sensor will require to perform multiple reading to get precise data. This data then could immediately be accessed using a Bluetooth connected device such as tablet or smartphone near bed of the patient. With this technology, there won’t be a need for collecting urine or performing lab analysis.