Project Description: 

Chronic heart failure is the second leading cause of in-patient hospital stays. One of the main symptoms is the accumulation of fluid within the body, sometimes as much as an additional 50 lbs. The patient discomfort causes from the swelling of the arms and legs is treated through diuretics. Success is measured by comparing the urine output to the overall liquid intake. Output is currently measured through the use of a urine hat which requires patient interaction and frequent visits from the nurse, sometimes every ten minutes, to ensure the data is input into the patient’s chart. When patients forget to use the urine hat, don’t call the nurse, or self report their urine output, cardiologists are forced to guess the amount of diuretic that should be prescribed. Diuretic prescriptions that are too high can lead to kidney and liver damage, while prescriptions that are too low can lead to inefficient treatment, thus extending the patients’ stay in the hospital. Given that the cost for in-patient stay per patient is $13,000 each day, accurate prescriptions become crucial in saving patients and insurance providers money. We’ve developed a familiar yet novel system that reduces the workload of nurses by 70% and takes the guesswork out of measuring urine output through a digital readout. The device is also capable of separating liquid and solid waste and requires no additional effort on the patient’s end. With this solution, we can ease the burden on our healthcare workers, save patients and hospitals 10s of thousands of dollars, and get people back to their lives and their families faster!