Development and construction of an open‐platform, open‐source low‐cost portable uroflowmeter: The OpenFlow device

• Published in: Neurourology and urodynamics Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 153 - 160
• Main Authors: Gallo, Germano Adelino, Cabral Dias Filho, Aderivaldo, Cruz, Pedro Rincon Cintra da, Moraes, Clayton Franco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-01-2024
• Subjects: Adult; home‐based uroflowmetry; Humans; open‐source software; Population studies; portable uroflowmeter; Rheology; Urination; Urination Disorders; Urodynamics; uroflowmetry; portable uroflowmeter; home-based uroflowmetry; open-source software; uroflowmetry
• DOI: 10.1002/nau.25317
• EISSN: 1520-6777
• ISSN: 0733-2467

Background
Uroflowmetry is useful to screen for and manage many voiding disorders. Home‐based uroflowmetry might better represent the patient's true voiding pattern and be more widely adopted if an accurate low‐cost portable device was available.
Objective
Development and initial evaluation of an open‐platform, open‐source low‐cost portable uroflowmeter.
Materials and Methods
We designed and built an uroflowmeter comprising of a load cell and digital memory card unit connected to a programmable microcontroller board mounted upon a 3D printed frame. It generated date‐stamped tables which were processed and plotted. Twenty urologists were recruited to assess the device. Each participant received the equipment that was returned, along with a bladder diary, after at least 24 consecutive hours of homemade uroflowmetry recording. Additionally, were assessed with the International Prostatic Symptom Score (I‐PSS) and Peeling diagram, whereas the device's ease of use, robustness, and portability were evaluated with a Likert‐type questionnaire. Two experienced urodynamicists independently evaluated the tracings' quality rated with a 3° ordinal scale: (1) Interpretable without artifacts; (2) Interpretable with artifacts; (3) Uninterpretable.
Results
Participants' median age was 36.6 years old, none having an I‐PSS > 5 or Peeling > 2. Overall 138 voidings were recorded (77 daytime, 61 nightly episodes). The device's ease of use, robustness, and portability obtained maximum score in 80% of evaluations. Most (98%) of the tracings were considered interpretable. Limitations included its small study population and short monitoring times.
Conclusion
The construction of a cheap (<50 USD), accurate user‐friendly portable uroflowmeter proved feasible, which could facilitate access to portable uroflowmetry.