Apparatus and method for measuring the mass of excreted material during urination

Abstract

This application discloses a urine monitoring device capable of measuring physiological parameters from a user's urine to evaluate specific cardiac or cardiovascular or other metabolic risks or other disease risks or a user's response to specific medications. The device is portable, can be operated by hand, or can be installed inside a toilet or attached to a urinal. The device can authenticate a user, and upon authentication of a verified user, the data collected from the user's urine can be automatically transferred to the user's personal electronic device, such as a smartwatch or mobile phone, or to the user's other data accounts via the internet or cellular communication, using a secure data transfer protocol, for further data processing, user viewing, or review by the user's physician and care team. The device can also be used in conjunction with a urinary catheter and urine collection bag, similar to those used in hospitals to collect urine from hospitalized patients for continuous monitoring of important urinary parameters, patient responses to specific medications, and the patient's overall health during hospitalization.

Claims

1. A system for measuring the volume of urine during urination, comprising a body for receiving urine, the body being in thermal contact with the urine flow and the environment, and one or more temperature sensors in thermal contact with the urine and the body, wherein the temperature sensors are capable of measuring the temperature of the urine and the body as the temperature of the body changes during urination, the urine volume is extracted from the temperature changes of the sensors relative to the temperature of the urine and relative to the initial temperature of the body as the urine flows over the body, the extraction of the urine volume is performed using a pure physical model or an augmented physical model with machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithms, or from a pure machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithm, the parameters of the model can be calibrated by training the system with a known amount of samples at a known temperature.

2. A system for measuring the volume of urine during urination, comprising a body for receiving urine and a plurality of comb-shaped electrodes capacitively coupled to the body, wherein the mutual capacitance between the electrodes changes as the urine flows over the body, the electrodes include at least one reference electrode so that the urine does not flow over the reference electrode, the electrodes include at least one driving electrode for receiving an AC voltage waveform and the remainder of the electrodes designated as a sensing electrode, the sensing electrode including the reference electrode receives a portion of the driving waveform via the coupled capacitance between the sensing electrode and the driving electrode, the urine volume is extracted from the fluctuations of signals received from the sensing electrode and the reference electrode using a physical model augmented by a machine learning algorithm, the parameters of the model can be calibrated by training the system with samples of known volumes.

3. A system for measuring urination time according to claim 1, wherein the urination time is extracted from the temporal variation of the temperature of a sensor measuring the urine temperature using a purely physical model or an augmented physical model using machine learning and / or a trainable artificial intelligence algorithm, or from a purely machine learning and / or a trainable artificial intelligence algorithm, and the parameters of the model can be calibrated by training the system with samples of known duration at known temperatures.

4. The urination time measurement system according to claim 3, wherein the urination time is extended by incorporating signals from one or more liquid contact sensors positioned adjacent to the temperature sensor of claim 1.

5. A measurement system for measuring urine flow rate and evaluating urination patterns in terms of continuity and interruption of urine flow using the system described in claim 4, wherein the urine flow rate is calculated by dividing the measured urine volume described in claim 1 by the measured urination time described in claim 4, and the urination pattern is extracted from the temporal variation of temperature sensor signals and liquid contact sensor signals using a pure physical model or an augmented physical model with machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithms, or from a pure machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithm, and the parameters of the model can be calibrated by training the system with samples of known flow rates and known flow patterns at known temperatures.

6. An ion-specific solid-state sensor for measuring the concentration of a specific ionic chemical substance in a medium such as urine, wherein the device comprises a charge-gate field-effect transistor having four electrical terminals: drain, source, voltage gate, and charge gate, the charge gate being coated with a single or multilayer of an ion-absorbing material of a specific thickness and type, at least one of the ion-absorbing layers being in contact with the liquid medium, at least one of the ion-absorbing layers preferentially absorbing ions of the ionic chemical substance among other ionic chemical substances in the liquid medium, the drain-source current of the charge-gate transistor device being modulated by the amount of ions absorbed by the charge-absorbing layer when a specific voltage bias is applied to the drain, source, and gate and a preset charge is applied to the charge gate, the degree of modulation of the drain-source current relating to the concentration of the ionic chemical substance in the liquid medium, and the ion-specific solid-state sensor not requiring a reference electrode in contact with the liquid medium.

7. An ion-specific solid sensor having gain and offset control according to claim 6, wherein the gain of the sensor can be adjusted by the drain-source voltage, and the offset of the sensor can be adjusted by the gate-source voltage and / or the preset charge on the charge gate when the sensor is biased in linear mode.

8. A system for measuring the concentrations of multiple ionic chemicals in urine, such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and hydrogen, by using an array of ion-specific semielectrodes that come into contact with the urine, wherein the number of electrodes is greater than the number of ionic chemicals, each semielectrode has a different selectivity for any of the ionic chemicals, the concentrations are extracted from all possible voltage differences between any pair of the ion-specific semielectrodes using a purely physical model or an extended physical model with machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithms, or from a purely machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithm, and the parameters of the model can be calibrated by training the system with a sample having known concentrations of the ionic chemicals without requiring a reference electrode in contact with the urine.

9. A system for measuring the concentrations of multiple ionic chemicals in urine, such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and hydrogen, by using an array of ion-specific semielectrodes that come into contact with the urine, wherein the number of electrodes is greater than the number of ionic chemicals, each semielectrode has a different selectivity for any of the ionic chemicals, the concentrations are extracted from all possible voltage differences between any pair of the ion-specific semielectrodes using a pure physical model or an extended physical model with machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithms, or from a pure machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithm, or by a pattern recognition algorithm, and the parameters of the model and / or algorithm can be calibrated by training the system with a sample having known concentrations of the ionic chemicals without the need for a reference electrode.

10. A system for measuring the concentrations of a plurality of ionic chemicals in urine, such as but not limited to sodium, potassium, calcium, and hydrogen, by using an array of solid ion-specific charge-gate field-effect transistor sensors as described in claim 6, wherein the number of sensors is greater than the number of ionic chemicals, each sensor has different selectivity and / or different sensitivity to any of the ionic chemicals, the ion concentrations are extracted from the drain-source currents of the sensors using a purely physical model or an augmented physical model with machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithms, or from a purely machine learning and / or trainable artificial intelligence algorithm, and the parameters of the model can be calibrated by training the system with a sample having known concentrations of the ionic chemicals without requiring a reference electrode in contact with the urine.

11. A system for measuring the excreted mass of a chemical substance during urination by measuring two parameters, namely 1) the urine volume described in claim 1 or 2, and 2) the concentration of a specific chemical substance described in claim 9 or 10, and by calculating the excreted mass by multiplying the measured urine volume by the measured concentration.

12. A system for measuring urine specific gravity by measuring two parameters, namely 1) light absorption of two or more specific wavelengths in the range from infrared to ultraviolet, and 2) the electrical conductivity of urine at one or more frequencies from DC to 100 MHz, and by using the measured values ​​to extract urine specific gravity using a pure physical model or an augmented physical model using artificial intelligence and / or machine learning, or from a pure artificial intelligence and / or machine learning algorithm, wherein the parameters of the model are calibrated by training the system with samples of known specific gravity.

13. A system for measuring the concentration of nonionic chemicals in urine, such as urea, creatinine, and glucose, by measuring light absorption at multiple wavelengths ranging from infrared to ultraviolet, wherein the number of wavelengths is greater than the number of nonionic chemicals, and the concentration is extracted from all absorption ratios calculated for any two of the multiple wavelengths using a pure physical model or an augmented physical model with artificial intelligence and / or machine learning, or from a pure artificial intelligence and / or machine learning algorithm, or from a pattern recognition algorithm, and the parameters of the model and / or algorithm are calibrated by training the system with a sample of the chemical having a known concentration.

14. A continuous urine monitoring device comprising a main body having an inlet and an outlet, and a plurality of sensors for measuring various physiological parameters of urine, including but not limited to urine volume, excreted sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride and ammonium, urea, specific gravity, pH, color and clarity, wherein the device is inserted into the inside of a patient's bladder at one end, the other end connected to the inlet of the main body, and the outlet attached to a urinary catheter, and measures the urine as it is discharged from the bladder through a catheter connected to a urine collection bag, such as one placed in a urine collection bag used in a hospital, and the device monitors the patient A continuous urine monitoring device that can record, monitor, and process the measured urine parameters to assess specific cardiac-related risks, or specific cardiovascular-related risks, or specific kidney-related risks, or to assess the user's response to a specific drug and / or other physiological risks, and the device transmits the measured urine parameters and / or risk assessment results to other systems for display, further evaluation, tracking, monitoring, and / or other uses via Bluetooth, or near-field communication, or short-range communication methods such as Wi-Fi, or via the Internet, or via wired connections.

15. The continuous urine monitoring device according to claim 14, wherein the device measures urine volume according to claim 1 or claim 2, the device measures a plurality of ionic chemical substances according to claim 8 and / or claim 9, the device measures urine specific gravity according to claim 12, and the device measures the concentration of a nonionic chemical substance according to claim 13.

16. The continuous urine monitoring device according to claim 15, wherein all measuring sensors are located at the bottom of the urine collection bag, only the urine volume measuring sensor is located outside the urine collection bag, and the other measuring systems are located inside the bag.

17. A portable self-calibrating urine monitoring device comprising a main body and a handle, and a plurality of sensors for measuring various physiological parameters of urine during urination, for example, but not limited to, urine volume, excreted sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride and ammonium, urea, specific gravity, pH, color and clarity of urine of any individual urinating into the device, wherein all or part of the urine flows through the device and the remainder overflows, the device is held by hand or can be attached to a urinal or any ordinary toilet, and the device records, monitors and processes the measured urine parameters to determine the individual's specific cardiac-related risk, or specific cardiovascular-related risk, or specific A portable self-calibrated urine monitor capable of assessing specific kidney-related risks or the user's response to specific drugs and / or other physiological risks, the device transferring the measured urine parameters and / or risk assessment results to the individual's personal electronic device, or a cloud-based data processing and storage account, or to other systems for further evaluation, tracking, monitoring, and / or other uses for personal and / or physician review, monitoring, and evaluation purposes, via Bluetooth, near-field communication, or short-range communication methods such as Wi-Fi, or via the Internet, cellular communication, or wired.

18. The portable urine monitoring device according to claim 17, wherein the device measures urine volume according to claim 1 or claim 2, measures a plurality of ionic chemical substances according to claim 8 and / or claim 9, measures urine specific gravity according to claim 12, and measures the concentration of a nonionic chemical substance according to claim 13.

19. A system for continuously monitoring the excreted mass of a chemical substance through urine discharged via a catheter, by measuring two parameters: 1) the urine volume described in claim 1 or 2, and 2) the concentration of a specific chemical substance in the urine described in claim 9, 10, or 13, and by calculating the excreted mass by multiplying the measured urine volume by the measured concentration.

20. A system for evaluating, from urine measurements, risks associated with heart failure, including but not limited to the risk of fluid retention, using the system according to claim 15, 16, or 18, wherein the risk is calculated from the measured urine volume according to claim 1 or 2, and the integral of measured excreted sodium and excreted potassium according to claim 11 or 19, wherein the integral is performed over multiple urinations or a specific period of time.

21. A system for assessing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease from a urine measurement using the system according to claim 15, 16, or 18, wherein the risk is calculated from the measured urine volume according to claim 1 or 2, and the integral of the measured excreted sodium and excreted potassium according to claim 11 or 19, wherein the integral is performed over multiple urinations or a specific period of time.

22. A system for estimating an individual's intake levels of liquids such as water, or minerals such as sodium, potassium, and calcium, over a specific period of time, from urine measurements, using the system according to claim 15, 16, or 18, wherein the intake levels are calculated from an integral of the measured urine volume according to claim 1 or 2 and the measured excretion amounts of the minerals according to claim 11 or 19, the integral being performed over multiple urinations or the specific period of time.

23. A system for evaluating an individual's response to a specific drug, such as a diuretic, over a specific period of time, using the system according to claim 15, 16, or 18, wherein the response is evaluated from an integral of a measured urine volume according to claim 1 or 2, and the evaluation may include the measurement of excreted sodium and excreted potassium or excreted calcium according to claim 11 or 19, and the integral is performed over the specific period of time.

24. The portable urine monitoring device according to claim 18, wherein the portable device is used in a toilet, and the measured urine volume is further improved by measuring the water temperature of the toilet.

25. A self-calibrating portable urine monitoring device according to claim 24 or 18, wherein one or more calibration solutions containing various known chemical concentrations are applied to the device, and the device calibration is adjusted according to the measured reaction to the calibration solution.

26. The portable urine monitoring device according to claim 18, wherein the device can authenticate multiple users using the user's personal connection device such as a smartwatch or mobile phone, or using a combination of keys entered on a keypad connected to the device, or using the user's voice based on a voice recognition algorithm, and the device can receive urine from the authenticated user for testing, perform necessary measurements on the urine, process the data, and store the data in the authenticated user's account for further analysis, evaluation and review.

27. The portable urine monitoring device according to claim 18, wherein the device is mounted on a toilet, the device can authenticate the user described in claim 26, and the device is moved in front of the toilet or in the center of the toilet bowl using a manual or electric arm to adjust to receive the urine flow according to the gender of the authenticated user.

28. The portable urine monitoring device according to claim 18, wherein the device can be self-cleaned by pouring water into the device itself using a water pump.

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