title: A new device to automate the monitoring of critical patients' urine output.
abstract: Urine output (UO) is usually measured manually each hour in acutely ill patients. This task consumes a substantial amount of time. Furthermore, in the literature there is evidence that more frequent (minute-by-minute) UO measurement could impact clinical decision making and improve patient outcomes. However, it is not feasible to manually take minute-by-minute UO measurements. A device capable of automatically monitoring UO could save precious time of the healthcare staff and improve patient outcomes through a more precise and continuous monitoring of this parameter. This paper presents a device capable of automatically monitoring UO. It provides minute by minute measures and it can generate alarms that warn of deviations from therapeutic goals. It uses a capacitive sensor for the measurement of the UO collected within a rigid container. When the container is full, it automatically empties without requiring any internal or external power supply or any intervention by the nursing staff. In vitro tests have been conducted to verify the proper operation and accuracy in the measures of the device. These tests confirm the viability of the device to automate the monitoring of UO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information and Communications Systems Engineering, University San Pablo CEU, 28668 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Otero
authors.affiliation: Centre for Automation and Robotics CSIC-UPM, Carretera Campo Real Km 0,200, La Poveda, Arganda del Rey, 28500 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Apalkov
authors.affiliation: Centre for Automation and Robotics CSIC-UPM, Carretera Campo Real Km 0,200, La Poveda, Arganda del Rey, 28500 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Roemi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Centre for Automation and Robotics CSIC-UPM, Carretera Campo Real Km 0,200, La Poveda, Arganda del Rey, 28500 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Armada
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D059349:Urine Specimen Collection / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*