Healthcare Perspectives

The impact of urinalysis

Healthcare Perspectives

Show Notes

Urine is more than a natural waste product—it can provide a wealth of information about an individual’s overall health, and urinalysis is one of the oldest diagnostic tests in existence. Its use has been dated as far back as Mesopotamia and ancient Greek physician Hippocrates wrote extensively about the use of urinalysis in diagnosing disease in the 6th century BCE.

Today, urinalysis can be used to detect a number of diseases and ailments including urinary tract infections, kidney disease, diabetes, and bladder cancer.

In this episode, Will Hutt, Head of Primary Care, Acute Rapid & Decentralized Urinalysis at Siemens Healthineers, is joined by Nancy Brunzel, a medical laboratory scientist and author of the book Fundamentals of Urine and Body Fluid Analysis and Jon Stradinger, director of assay development for point of care at Siemens Healthineers. We’ll also hear from two experts interviewed for Siemens Healthineers’ recent five-part docuseries about the history of urinalysis: Medical Author and Educator Connie Mardis and Kelly St. Vrain, the head of marketing operations for diagnostics at Siemens Healthineers. They’re discussing the current state of urinalysis, where it could go in the future, and what it all means for the overall patient experience.

Watch Siemens Healthineers’ five-part docuseries Urine, A Liquid Lens into Your Health

What You’ll Learn in This Episode: • Urinalysis is cost-effective and non-invasive—two reasons it is such a popular diagnostic tool. • Urinalysis can play an integral role in the early detection of serious diseases. • Advances in urinalysis such as automated test strip readers have brought new innovations in the consistency and quality control of the test. • There is a lot of potential for the role that artificial intelligence may come to play in interpreting the data of urinalysis results. • Urinalysis has existed for millennia, but it will remain an invaluable tool in healthcare.

Connect with Will Hutt · LinkedIn Connect with Nancy Brunzel · LinkedIn Connect with Jon Stradinger · LinkedIn Connect with Kelly St. Vrain · LinkedIn Connect with Connie Mardis · LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from Healthcare Perspectives

Sep 23, 2026

In this episode of Healthcare Perspectives, host Isabel Nieto Alvarez, PhD, an expert for patient experience at Siemens Healthineers, is joined by Maria Bernathova, MD, breast radiologist and generative AI specialist, and Caroline Justich, breast cancer patient advocate and founder of the patient support initiative Be Accepted. Together, they discuss how better communication — and the responsible use of AI — could help patients feel more informed, involved, and supported throughout their care.

Aug 12, 2026

Across the globe, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity continue to place a growing burden on healthcare systems. Many of these conditions develop silently, often remaining undetected until significant damage has already occurred.

Jul 29, 2026

Healthcare systems around the world are under increasing pressure to reduce their environmental footprint without compromising access to care, quality, or patient safety. One often overlooked opportunity is the refurbishment of imaging systems. By giving imaging systems a second life, healthcare providers can help preserve resources while continuing to deliver clinical performance.

Apr 1, 2026

Across the globe, radiology departments are grappling with a paradox: imaging volumes are climbing while the trained workforce needed to operate scanners is shrinking. Using AI-driven tools, a drive towards fully-automated radiology promises faster diagnoses, greater diagnostic accuracy, and more efficient workflows, improving both the patient and clinician experience. It is rapidly transforming the way medical imaging is performed, analyzed, and integrated into imaging workflows.

Dec 17, 2025

Medical imaging is already an integral part of modern healthcare, but as hospitals face growing imaging demand and staffing challenges, new solutions using artificial intelligence have become an effective way to help ease the load.

See all episodes →