Real-Time Monitoring of Urine Output with Internet-of-Things Connected Foley Catheters

We describe the use of Internet-of-Things (IoT) connected Foley catheters that enables realtime monitoring of urine output. Urine output is an important indicator of the level of renal or urinary impairment in patients. A Foley catheter is a device that allows the collection of urine from patients and has volume gradation that allows the reading of urine volume periodically by the nursing staff. The readings are typically performed once or twice per day with low levels of accuracy and time resolution. We proposed and developed an IoT-enabled system that captures urine output in real time by continuously monitoring the weight of the urine collected by the Foley catheter. The data is sent via wireless networking to a data collection and analysis server which provides accurate analyses of the patient urine output. The data can then be used by the physician to measure realtime urine response to medication and other medical interventions.