A Brief History of Urinalysis

Laboratory medicine began 6000 years ago with the analysis of human urine, which was called uroscopy until the 17th century and today is termed urinalysis. Uroscopy was the mirror of medicine for thousands of years. From a liquid window through which physicians felt they could view the body's inner workings. Today physicians use urine to diagnose selective conditions but from ancient times until the Victorian era, urine was used as the primary diagnostic tool.It is a most fascinating history for it became the history of medicine itself. The recognition of the importance of urine in diagnosis was made over 6000 years ago by several of the earliest civilizations (Sumerian & Babylon), and a few of their clay tablets have been found that give us some insight into their observations and conclusions.

Visual inspection alone was shown to be inadequate as a single means of diagnosis, and over 600 years ago Paracelsus (1673), as well as others, began to reject ancient uroscopy and searched for new approaches to the analysis of urine by using chemical distillation techniques. Progress in anatomy and physiology, coupled with the understanding of organ function, provided a field for the investigation of the composition of the urine and associating its chemical constituents with specific disease states.   A few notable names in the history of uroscopy are Hippocrates (460–355 BC), Galen (AD 129–200), Isaac Judaeus (AD 855–955), Theophilus Protospatharius (AD1000-1100) and Gilles de Corbeil (1165–1213).The introduction of the microscope made scientists to examine all body fluids, especially the urine, and to record their observations as an aid to diagnosis and this was the beginnings of medical microscopy. This century has also seen remarkable advances in the field of urinalysis: dipstick testing, the application of modern chemical and microscopic techniques. Recently the introduction of automation technology to enhance and improve urine examination. In short, urinalysis, the first of all laboratory tests, began as and still remains a most valuable and highly important means of diagnosis in clinical medicine.

With the mission of “Seek the Truth of Life”, COBIO committed to the development, production, sales and services of urine diagnosis products. After 17 years of focusing on the development of urinalysis system, we have achieved the international leading level in the field of AI recognition technology of urine formed elements.