Development of an Algorithm for Uroflowmetry Using a Bath Scale

Abstract

Acquisition of daily urination information leads to accurate diagnosis and treatment of dysuria. Conventional uroflowmeters have some problems about installation cost, sanitation management and measurement condition. As a method to solve them, uroflowmetry by the bath scale was proposed. In this study, flow rate change was calculated from weight change and smoothed by moving average to remove effect of body sway. First, pseudo-urination was performed on the bath scale and an optimum number for smoothing was determined. Next, urination was performed on the bath scale, and it was measured simultaneously with a uroflowmeter. The accuracy of 5 measurements was examined with 7 subjects. As a result, the bell-shaped urinary flow patterns followed to the patterns of uroflowmeter. The estimated voided volume (VV_est) and maximum flow rate (Q_max) distributed within ±20% of the reference.