It is a reflection of our normal state. Its color, its smell and more, numerous screening tests allow us to read a lot of information about our health in urine. This is also the subject of an innovation presented at CES in Las Vegas, the world’s largest technological innovation show: Uriki, a connected urine analysis device, developed by Toulouse start-up Iki. Objective: To simplify the daily life of patients suffering from chronic diseases by allowing them to perform urine tests at home.
But for the general public, are there any major benefits to regular urine testing? Is it dangerous? While urine tests already make it possible to screen for a range of pathologies and detect the presence of various substances and elements in the body, innovation in urine testing continues, and the applications it suggests are very promising.
Daily monitoring “No major interest”
The advantage of the Uriki Connected kit is that you can save yourself the hassle of going to the analysis laboratory to put your little bottle there, by doing your own urine analysis, at home in complete privacy, on a strip that simply inserts. The reader, which transmits the results to the healthcare professional using the relevant application. An idea was born in the head of Christophe Kau, a nanophysics engineer in Toulouse, who often suffers from painful renal colic with kidney stones. Goal: To prevent the recurrence of kidney stones by monitoring the composition of your urine daily.
A novelty that perplexes biologists. Medical Biologist and President of Union of Medical Biologists Dr. Lionel Berand says, “First, if we suspect renal colic, we should go to the doctor, and we should compare the raw performance in relation to that. examinations. which we practice on machines. Then, this system is based mainly on the presence of urea, the analysis of which was defunded by health insurance due to its lack of diagnostic utility. In addition, there is a risk of misuse: 70% of analysis errors are linked to pre-analytical problems, the way the pre-analysis part is handled and which can distort the results. And in practice, testing your urine every day will have more anxiety-provoking effects than medical benefit, he believes. Even diabetics, who need regular monitoring, usually only need one or two urine tests per year.”
The device “may be of interest to people at risk of developing kidney stones, but it is a very targeted population, for whom prevention and dietary measures may make it possible to avoid recurrence,” Dr. François Blanchecott, medical biologist and president of the union, explains. Biologists. As for the general public, it is of no great interest to know every day whether calcium or uric acid deposits are excreted in their urine. The scientific innovation is exciting, but the usefulness of these tests is questioned.”
A very nice screening tool
On the other hand, urinalysis is a valuable tool in biology. It already makes it possible to detect pregnancy, “as well as the presence of drugs, which is also the most effective screening method,” Dr. Blanchecott emphasizes. Urine tests also make it possible to identify the presence of product residues such as pesticides.”
but also urinary or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). From now on, in case of a urinary infection, it is possible to take a urine test directly to the pharmacy to receive treatment, without consulting your doctor. Additionally, “urine testing is the most effective technique for detecting Mycoplasma genitalium in men, an STI that is another cause of urethritis, a urinary tract infection,” Dr. Berand states. From the end of January, a decree will establish coverage for screening for this STI in the event of symptoms by health insurance. This clearly shows the importance of urine testing in biology.”
Innovations to improve diagnosis of certain cancers
In practice, “urine drains all waste products circulating in the body,” Dr. Blanchecott says. So there are still many areas to explore for developing new screening methods.” New medical applications that can be deployed quickly. The prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has just developed a technology to facilitate the diagnosis of lung cancer. This tool relies on nanosensors that can be delivered via an inhaler, and which, if they encounter cancer-related proteins in the lungs, produce a signal that accumulates in the urine. Cancer can then be detected using a simple paper urine strip.
According to the researchers, this technique could be of major interest in countries that do not have widespread access to expensive diagnostic equipment that already exists. “Worldwide, cancer will be increasingly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, lung cancer epidemics are linked to pollution and smoking. So we know that these are contexts where access to these types of technologies can have a big impact,” at MIT. says Sangeeta Bhatia, professor of health sciences, technology, and electrical and computer engineering and member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. .
“By urine or blood, biology has been revolutionized,” Dr. Berand rejoices, especially in oncology: there are urine tests, which have not yet been reimbursed, which specifically blood cancer, myeloma. Can detect light chains, for which it is necessary. Only the screening tool is available. Without forgetting the “companion tests”, Dr. “That makes it possible to determine, through urine, whether a patient would benefit from receiving a targeted therapy,” adds Blanchecott. Companion testing “makes it possible to improve therapeutic decision-making as well as the clinical evolution of patients”, confirms the High Authority for Health. “All these elements are coming to market,” Dr. “And illustrates the importance of not lagging behind in innovation,” emphasizes Blanchecott.
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