TY  - EJOU
AU  - Zvarova, Katarina 
AU  - Ursiny, Michal 
AU  - Giebink, Timothy 
AU  - Liang, Kathleen 
AU  - Blaivas, Jerry G. 
AU  - Zvara, Peter 

TI  - Recording urinary fl ow and lower urinary tract symptoms using sonourofl owmetry
T2  - Canadian Journal of Urology

PY  - 2011
VL  - 18
IS  - 3
SN  - 1488-5581

AB  - <b>Introduction:</b> To assess the accuracy of sonouroflow (SUF), an at-home, wireless-based acoustic system for recording lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and urinary flow rate, and to compare test-to-test variability in flow parameters recorded using this new portable method with those obtained by conventional uroflowmetry.<br/>

<b>Materials and methods:</b> An initial pilot study evaluated the technical feasibility of the SUF system. Subsequently, test-to-test variability was compared between sonourograms (SUFm) and standard uroflowmetry recordings. Uroflowmetry tests were performed at the urology office at pre-set times. SUF tests were performed at home on a schedule in keeping with the subjects' normal habits.<br/>

<b>Results:</b> In the initial feasibility study, 94% of SUFm recordings obtained from male volunteers displayed regular bell-shaped flow curves comparable to those recorded by standard uroflowmetry; significant variability was noted among female volunteers. In the comparative study, the coefficient of variation for SUFm-derived values was significantly lower for voiding time (p < 0.001) and significantly higher for average flow rate (p = 0.009) than that obtained from standard uroflowmetry recordings; maximum flow rate and time to maximum flow were not significantly different between methods. Box-and-whisker plots showed reduced test-to-test variability in the SUFm dataset for voiding time, maximum flow rate and time to maximum flow rate in 62.5%, 43.75% and 56%, respectively, of study subjects.<br/>

<b>Conclusions:</b> The SUF system is easy to use and yields results comparable to those of standard uroflowmetry. Integration of recordings of LUTS with flow parameters and lower test-to-test variability suggest the potential of SUF for clinical applications.
KW  - urofl ow
KW  -  test-to-test reproducibility
KW  -  volunteer study

DO  -