Stanford engineers design a home urine test

Scientists and Stanford detail their new low-cost, portable device that would allow patients to get consistently accurate urine test results at home, easing the workload on primary care physicians.

As a color-based test, the dipstick needs consistent lighting conditions. The same color can look different depending on its background, so the engineers created a black box that covers the dipstick. Its flat, interlocking parts make it easy to mail, store and assemble.

The engineers also designed a multi-layered system to load urine onto the dipstick. A dropper squeezes urine into a hole in the first layer, filling up a channel in the second layer and ten square holes in the third layer. When the third layer is inserted into the black box, some clever engineering ensures that a uniform volume of urine is deposited on each of the ten pads on the dipstick at just the right time.

Finally, a smartphone is placed on top of the black box with the video camera focused on the dipstick inside the box. Custom software reads video from the smartphone and controls the timing and color analysis. To perform the test a person would load the urine and then push the third layer into the box. When the third layer hits the back of the box, it signals the phone to begin the video recording at the precise moment when the urine is deposited on the pads.

Read more at Stanford News

Image Credit: Stanford University School of Engineering

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