Advances and Challenges in Urine Laboratory Analysis

A urinalysis is a simple test that can help find urinary tract-related problems such as kidney disease. It can also pinpoint other serious problems not so closely related to kidneys, such as diabetes, liver disease, or even various cancers. Simply put, urine analyses may provide huge amounts of information to monitor a potential patient’s condition. The history of analysis of urine for diagnostic purposes is quite long. It includes the detection of microbes as etiological agents of infection and the estimation of biochemical parameters such as glucose and protein concentration. Furthermore, the increase in the number of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease or other “civilization diseases” such as diabetes, hypertension, or obesity manifests the need for effective tools for specific and sensitive diagnosis. This book summarizes the state of the art in diagnosing infectious and non-infectious diseases based on urine analysis. Additionally, it focuses on novel techniques and applications used in everyday laboratory urinalysis. The history of analysis of urine for diagnostic purposes is quite long. It includes the detection of microbes as etiological agents of infection and the estimation of biochemical parameters such as glucose and protein concentration. Furthermore, the increase in the number of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease or other “civilization diseases” such as diabetes, hypertension, or obesity manifests the need for effective tools for specific and sensitive diagnosis. This book summarizes the state of the art in diagnosing infectious and non-infectious diseases based on urine analysis. Additionally, it focuses on novel techniques and applications used in everyday laboratory urinalysis.