Smartphone-Linked Catheter Sensor Spots UTIs Sooner Than Lab Cultures

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections, and catheter-associated UTIs account for more than half of hospital-acquired cases. While treatable when detected early, current diagnostic methods can be slow or insufficiently sensitive, allowing infections to progress before intervention. Researchers have now developed a wearable catheter sensor designed to detect infections earlier and more conveniently.

Researchers at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX, USA) have created a wearable fluorescence-based sensor that attaches directly to a catheter collection bag and communicates with a smartphone application. The system is designed to continuously monitor for E. coli, the most common cause of catheter-associated UTIs. Reagents preloaded into the catheter bag produce a fluorescent signal in the presence of the bacteria. Ultraviolet LED lights stimulate the reaction, and a color sensor detects fluorescence changes, transmitting data to a smartphone in real time.

In laboratory testing using an in vitro bladder model, the device detected E. coli at lower levels than traditional diagnostic methods within three to nine hours. Conventional urinalysis methods may miss infections due to low sensitivity, while urine cultures, though more accurate, can take up to two days for results. The sensor automatically alerts users through the smartphone app when bacterial levels suggest infection, enabling faster medical response.

The technology has the potential to reduce complications such as urosepsis, shorten hospital stays, and lower healthcare costs by enabling earlier intervention. Future research will involve testing real patient samples to validate clinical performance. Researchers are also exploringthe detection of additional pathogens and adapting similar wearable sensing technologies for intravenous catheters to identify bloodstream infections.

“For patients who may need urinary catheters — such as older adults, post-surgical patients, or people with chronic conditions — these results mean that in the future, UTIs and catheter-associated UTIs could be detected earlier and more conveniently, without having to wait days for a lab culture or rely only on low-sensitivity dipsticks,” said Dr. Weiming Xu, primary researcher on this project.

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