In the clinical laboratory world, urinalysis is big business. But according to Dr. Andrew Lorincz, professor emeritus with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, the traditional procedure is not necessarily cost-efficient or timely for the symptomatic patient. Every year more than 300 million routine urinalyses are performed in the US alone.
Urinalyses are often shipped cross-country to a clinical or reference laboratory.
Lorincz and his associates are investigating a procedure to solve these problems. A third, larger study of SMFT has been currently submitted to a peer-reviewed publication. Although Lorincz is quick to agree that more research is needed to establish the usefulness of SMFT for screening urinary tract infections, he points out such testing is expensive. In an effort to further SMFT technology, he published the formula for the buffered fluorochrome. Furthermore, Lorincz assured MLO that if anyone wants it for experimental purposes, he is willing to share it.