A Novel Low-Cost Uroflowmetry for Patient Telemonitoring
Savio Domenico Pandolfo, Federica Crauso, Achille Aveta, Simone Cilio, Biagio Barone, Luigi Napolitano, Antonio Scarpato, Benito Fabio Mirto, Francesco Serino, Francesco Del Giudice, Benjamin I. Chung, Fabio Crocerossa, Erika Di Zazzo, Francesco Trama, Ruggero Vaglio, Zhenjie Wu, Paolo Verze, Ciro Imbimbo, Felice Crocetto
Abstract
Uroflowmetry (UF) is a crucial guideline-recommended tool for men with benign prostatic obstruction (BPO). Moreover, UF is a helpful decision-making tool for the management of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In the last few years, telemedicine and telehealth have increased exponentially as cost-effective treatment options for both patients and physicians. Telemedicine and telehealth have been well positioned during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent healthcare system overload and to ensure adequate management of patients through screening, diagnosis, and follow-up at home. In the present manuscript, the main characteristics and performance of a novel and low-cost device for home-based UF have been analyzed. The simple weight-transducer method has been applied to perform UF. An inexpensive load cell connected to a 24 bit analogic digital converter (ADC) sends data to a cloud server via SIM card or home Wi-Fi. Data are processed and shown in graphics with both volume and flow rate as a function of time, allowing for measurement of average flow rate, maximum flow rate, voided volume, and voiding time. A numerical algorithm allows for filtering of the dynamic effect due to the urine gravity acceleration and for removing the funnel to simplify the home measurement procedure. Through an online platform, the physician can see and compare each UF data. The device's reliability has been validated in a first laboratory setting and showed excellent performance. This approach based on domiciliary tests and an online platform can revolutionize the urologic clinic landscape by offering a constant patient cost-effective follow-up, eliminating the time wasted waiting in the office setting.