A Novel Spectral Platform for Quantifying Urobilinogen Using a Urine Dipstick

This paper presents a novel portable urine dipstick spectrometry device. The developed device can analyze the color change reaction on the dipstick with a miniature visible spectrometer. Through the observed spectral signal from different concentrations samples, we can build the calibration curve. Therefore, the urine dipstick, which was originally used only for qualitative purposes, can be extended to quantitative results. This study focused on one of the urine tests: urobilinogen, which is associated with liver disease and hemolytic anemia. The error of detection results between a professional testing laboratory and this developed device is about 8%. The urobilinogen detection range of 0.256 to 2 mg/dL is sufficient to distinguish between abnormalities, making it a valuable tool for medical professionals to diagnose and monitor patients. In addition, a single sample can be measured in about 5 mins and can be used for point-of-care testing (POCT) home care applications in the future.