Human urine detector...

[Dkoi]

Not the nicest topic - but does any know of a way to locate human urine. There are products to find animal urine, but I don't think these would apply to humans.

I work in a 'psychological' capacity and someone in my care has some "issues", while we work on interventions to understand why these issues are happening I don't think it's fair that the domestic team (house keepers) have to clean large areas every few days. Also, there may be significance attached to the locations this is occurring in so pinpointing it is key. My nose is only so accurate, and i'm not keen on using that method it! Due to under floor heating there are no visual signs so...

Is there a U.V type flashlight / technique that anyones come across? If anyone has suggestions I'd be grateful...

Lets use our hobby/addiction to help someone who's really struggling with life right now.

Thank you.

 

[JulianP]

Some quick research via Google indicated that there is no LED / Lighting solution. Most people suggest giving your subject a vitamin B complex pill. It will make urine bright yellow and smelly. Who knows, vitamin B might even reduce his/her stress and stop the peeing...

 

[StarHalo]

UV lighting can see urine, however different brands/models are better at it than others; tiny disparities in light frequency illuminate different organic traces (shorter UV wavelengths tend to do better with urine). You'll need to talk to someone in forensics for specific recommendations.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Do you know someone with a capable dog? It wouldn't take that much to train for that.

 

[Ken_McE]

I believe UV light is used to detect bodily fluids. Not sure what ranges.

 

[jspeybro]

didn't read it all, but may have some usefull info:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?236408-Ultraviolet-Urine-Detection


basically, I think something using 365nm could work. LedEngin has some powerful LEDs in this wavelength range. Don't look in those LEDs though. they don't seem bright but that's because your eye is not sensitive to UV. It has quite some damaging effects on the eye tissue!
you can get an idea of the intensity by shining it on a piece of white paper. it will fluoresce quite bright in the visible (blue) range. Then think about the fact that fluorescence is a very inefficient process and the excitation intensity is several magnitudes higher than the fluorescent light.

 

[TEEJ]

365 nm makes it really pop out, no problem. (There are MANY UV LED lights out there...)

I do forensic investigations, and that definitely works.

~ 390 nm is about the limit, but enough power at 390 nm works well too.

An easy check is to shine it at the wall by a toilet, the pedestal, etc. There is always invisible (hopefully invisible...) spatter from the urine hitting the water in the toilet, and microscopic droplets being splashed back out, etc. There are of course times when, um, people just miss the toilet altogether, etc.


The above acts as a control, so, if it shows up in a known problem area, it gives you confidence that it will work where the presence is unknown.


If you have a patient who needs to see that it works, this can help show it....giving more confidence in the procedure, etc. (As opposed to pacifying them by saying there are no monsters under the bed, etc...)

It also shows you what to look for, and, ensures that you have the correct light and wavelength, power, etc.


A florescent tube UV lamp is typically more powerful than an LED flashlight, as its easier to make UV light that way...but, the LED are much easier to use.


The same light will also make checking for scorpions and a few other chores much easier.

:D


The limiting factor is RANGE. If you need to sweep a large area from a one point, MOST LED lights have too little range, and, the powerful florescent tube lights have very little range even though they flood a comparatively wide area at once.

The LED flashlight's can have reflectors, and, that improves the range, but makes the beam tighter, so you don't see as wide an area at a time.


A small UV flashlight with 390 nm at low power might need to be ~ 2' from the urine to spot it. A high power UV at 365 nm might see the same urine at 40', and so forth.



In a dark room, if you sweep the beam methodically cross the areas of concern, the urine will "flash" as you sweep over it, so you see the sudden florescence. You can then sweep back to the flashes to look in more detail, and so forth. The darker the room, the better the detection ability.


Be careful of reflective surfaces, even high gloss paint, etc...as reflected UV can cloud your vision over time. The use of UV glasses when doing the inspections is always a good idea, especially for the 365 nm UV.

You can SEE a purplish light from most UV lights, simply because they emit a range of frequencies, some over, some under, their "spec" nm range.

There's almost nothing visible though from true 365 nm lights, so your pupils are dilated during use in the dark...and that UV goes right in.

 

[cy]

Arc AAA UV .. 375 nm .. $39 http://www.arcflashlight.com/arc-aaa-uv.shtml

 

[alpg88]

just buy urine gone kit, it is sold in most pet stores, it comes with correct wavelenght flouresent tube light,(4aa) and cleaning solution, the light is made specifically to show urine. it is about $20