Urine analysis using FTIR spectroscopy: A study on healthy adults and children

Urine spectra from 108 healthy volunteers are studied by attenuated total refraction‐Fourier transform infrared (ATR‐FTIR) spectroscopy. The spectral features are correlated with observable urine components. The variation of spectra within a healthy population is quantified and a library of reference spectra is constructed. Using the band assignments, these spectra are compared with both age‐wise and gender‐wise. Children show the least intensity variations compared to both adult groups. Young adults show the highest variation, particularly in the 1650 to 1400 cm−1 and 1200 to 900 cm−1 regions. These results indicate the importance of the size of the control group in comparative studies utilizing FTIR. Age‐wise comparisons reveal that phosphate and sulfate excretion decreases with age, and that the variance of phosphate among individuals is higher with adults. As for gender‐wise comparisons, females show a slightly higher citrate content at 1390 cm−1 regardless of the age and they show a higher variance in the 1200 to 1000 cm−1 region when compared to men. Urine of 108 healthy people was scanned with FTIR. Spectral bands are correlated with observable urine components. The diversity of urine spectra and limits of this variation are quantified. Spectra of pre‐pubertal children are studied and compared with adults. This study shows that 1650 to 1400 cm−1 and 1200 to 900 cm−1 regions are highly variant in the population, of which the latter decreases with age. Gender‐wise comparison also exhibits differences in the same region in addition to slightly increased citrate in females.