High fluid intake is an effective preventative strategy against recurrent kidney stones but is known to be challenging to achieve. Recently, a smart water bottle (Hidrate Spark™, Minneapolis, MN) was developed as a non-invasive fluid intake monitoring system. This device could help patients who form stones from low urine volume achieve sustainable improvements in hydration, but has yet to be validated in a clinical setting. Hidrate Spark™ uses capacitive touch sensing via an internal sensor. It calculates volume measurements by detecting changes in water level and sends data wirelessly to users' smartphones through an application. A pilot study was conducted to assess accuracy of measured fluid intake over 24 h periods when used in a real life setting. Subjects were provided smart bottles and given short tutorials on their use. Accuracy was determined by comparing 24-h fluid intake measurements calculated through the smart bottle via sensor to standard volume measurements calculated by the patient from hand over the same 24 h period. Eight subjects performed sixty-two 24-h measurements (range 4-14). Mean hand measurement was 57.2 oz/1692 mL (21-96 oz/621-2839 mL). Corresponding mean smart bottle measurement underestimated true fluid intake by 0.5 ozs. (95% CI -1.9, 0.9). Percent difference between hand and smart bottle measurements was 0.0% (95% CI - 3%, 3%). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), calculated to assess consistency between hand measures and bottle measures, was 0.97 (0.95, 0.98) indicating an extremely high consistency between measures. 24-h fluid intake measurements from a novel fluid monitoring system (Hidrate Spark™) are accurate to within 3%. Such technology may be useful as a behavioral aide and/or research tool particularly among recurrent stone formers with low urinary volume.
Keywords: Fluid; Metabolic stone; Mobile health; Nephrolithiasis; Smartphone; Technology; Urolithiasis; Water.