During medical exams, men are often asked, “Have you noticed any reduction in urination ability?” This is asked in order to obtain an indication of prostate gland enlargement that usually constricts the urinary duct. Most men aren’t aware of any reduction until it’s severe. My simple idea provides a quantified measurement of urinary function, which can be recorded and used to provide an early indication of decreased function. It will also provide graphical results for the examining physician and follow-up Urologist over months and years.

This concept provides a quantitative indication of prostate enlargement. It’s easy to use and inexpensive. Early detection and tracking of prostate growth and growth-rate can provide important information of every male’s prostate thereby increasing the chances of detecting prostate maladies, such as cancer, in the early phases when treatment is most beneficial.

The marketplace hasn’t made this simple device available to the medical world. The idea would quickly make available a quantitative measurement of urinary function, which would begin a history of prostate enlargement for each male.This device would be suitable for all medical facilities. It could be conveniently incorporated into the restrooms used for lab samples.The market would be very large and worldwide. In fact, it would even be suitable in third world countries.

Basically, a male would be sent to a restroom with a floor mounted urinal and told to aim his penis so as to reach the highest possible point on a ruler that is glued to the back of the urinal. The highest point would be achieved with a combination of aim and distance from the back surface of the urinal. This point would be the top of the curvature of the urine stream. The height of the patient’s penis would also be noted. It is the difference of the highest point and the source height that would serve as an indication of the urinary function. The exit velocity of the urine, which is related to the fluid pressure, determines this height. This pressure is reduced when there is a constriction of the urinary duct by an enlarged prostate. Hence the height achieved is directly related to the prostate condition.

A standard floor type urinal would be fitted with a waterproof measurement scale. Most floor urinals are not normally high enough to be above the highest point a healthy male would be able to achieve. Hence, the floor-mounted unit would have to be mounted above the usual floor level.

Currently, standard floor mounted urinals sell for about $500 retail in small quantities. The addition of the ruler would be insignificant. There are no other devices that can provide equivalent, simple, routine and quantitative information on the market.

This device, along with accumulated records, will add a valuable diagnostic to the medical profession and will lead to improved monitoring of male prostate growth thereby increasing the chances of early detection of prostate malfunction leading to improved quality of life for many males.