Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

The global shift towards value-based care and person-centered approaches is driving demand for advanced monitoring technologies that enhance patient outcomes and operational efficiency. Regulatory pressures for improved patient safety and dignity, coupled with a competitive landscape seeking differentiation through smart health solutions, make this non-invasive, high-accuracy urine detection system critical. It enables facilities to optimize staffing, reduce costs, and elevate care standards.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Improves Urine Volume Detection Accuracy by ~30%: A unique algorithm corrects errors caused by urine spread using the square root of the urination interval, enabling more accurate urine volume detection than conventional methods. This facilitates care at optimal times.

02

Non-Invasive and Highly Comfortable: The sensor is placed on the exterior of the diaper's urine-absorbing part, ensuring patient comfort and improving the quality of excretory care without compromising QOL.

03

Reduces Implementation Cost by ~20%: Easily applicable as an external sensor to existing diapers, eliminating the need for specialized diaper development or expensive equipment, which significantly reduces initial costs for adopting companies.

Market Opportunity
Elderly Care Facilities
$3B–$3.5B domestically (AI est.)
Reducing caregiver burden and optimizing night rounds are urgent priorities, driving high demand for accurate excretory care solutions.
Large-scale nursing home chains Assisted living facility operators Smart care technology providers
Home Care and Remote Monitoring
$1.5B–$2.5B domestically (AI est.)
There is increasing demand for reducing the burden on family caregivers and for remote monitoring of elderly health, where this non-invasive technology is particularly effective.
Home health service providers Remote patient monitoring platforms Consumer health device manufacturers
Medical Institutions (Acute & Chronic Care)
$1B–$1.5B domestically (AI est.)
This technology could contribute to stricter post-operative and critical patient urination management, reduce nurse workload, and lead to improved quality and efficiency of medical care.
Hospital systems Medical device companies specializing in patient monitoring Rehabilitation centers
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent protects a robust and stable right, having been granted after rigorous examination against four prior art documents. It establishes technical superiority through a unique compensation mechanism for capacitance changes in urine detection, specifically the method of dividing by the square root of the urination interval.

Competitive White Space

This patent primarily covers capacitance-based urine detection with a specific correction algorithm. White space exists in integrating this data with other vital sign monitoring systems or developing predictive analytics for broader health insights beyond immediate urination events.

Economic Impact
~$1M/year estimated care labor reduction per facility (est.)
estimated ROI · USD · AI analysis
ROI Calculation Logic

Assuming 5 daily excretion checks and 2 diaper changes per patient in a care facility. Implementing this technology could reduce checks to 2 per day and optimize change timings, cutting annual care labor per patient by ~30%. For a facility with 100 caregivers and annual personnel costs of ~$3.3M (AI est.), a 30% reduction in labor costs could yield an estimated annual saving of ~$1M (AI est.).

Speed to Market
6× faster than in-house development
This technology's core compensation algorithm for urine detection is already established and its effectiveness is logically demonstrated in the patent's detailed description. It can leverage general-purpose capacitance sensors, significantly shortening the time required for new hardware development. By focusing on integrating existing sensor technology with the software, adopting companies could achieve approximately 2.5 years faster time-to-market compared to in-house development, enabling earlier market entry and revenue generation.
Competitive Positioning

X: Measurement Accuracy and Reliability
Y: Ease of Implementation and Versatility

Business Models & Applications
🔌 Sensor Module Supply
Supply OEM urine detection sensor modules incorporating this technology to existing diaper and care product manufacturers, supporting their product line expansion.
📊 Data Analysis SaaS
Provide high-value services as SaaS, such as excretion pattern analysis, anomaly detection, and care plan suggestions, by analyzing detected urination data in the cloud.
🤝 Technology Licensing
Grant implementation rights for this technology to partner companies in specific regions or for particular applications, maximizing market expansion and revenue opportunities.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
🏥 Medical Institutions
ICU Patient & Post-Operative Monitoring
For ICU and post-operative patients, this technology could provide real-time, accurate urine volume monitoring, aiding in the early detection of dehydration or kidney dysfunction. It has the potential to reduce nurse rounds and enhance medical safety.
👶 Infant Care
Smart Baby Diaper System
Accurately notifies parents of diaper change timings for infants, helping prevent diaper rash and reducing parental burden. Accumulating and analyzing urination data could also be applied to health management and growth records.
🐾 Pet Care
Elderly Pet Health Management System
Monitors urination patterns in elderly dogs and cats, aiding in early detection of urinary tract diseases and supporting QOL. This could reduce pet owner anxiety and extend pets' healthy lifespans.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 18-Month Deployment
Phase 1: Proof of Concept & Requirements Definition
Duration: 3 months
Evaluate integration potential with the licensee's existing systems and define specific implementation requirements. Verify the technology's scope and effectiveness through a Proof of Concept.
Phase 2: Prototype Development & Validation
Duration: 6 months
Develop a prototype incorporating this technology based on defined requirements. Conduct functional testing, accuracy validation, and gather user feedback under near real-world conditions.
Phase 3: Production Deployment & Optimization
Duration: 9 months
Implement the technology into the production environment, reflecting prototype validation results. Optimize operational processes and ensure continuous improvement through post-deployment data collection and analysis.
Technical Feasibility
This technology is centered on a sensor unit placed on the exterior of the diaper's urine-absorbing part and a software algorithm that corrects its output values. Given the maturity of existing capacitance sensor technology, barriers to new hardware development are low, and applying general-purpose sensors can reduce implementation costs. Furthermore, since the correction process is purely software-based, integration into a licensee's existing systems is relatively straightforward, enabling rapid deployment without significant capital investment.
Success Scenario
If this technology is implemented, care facilities could potentially reduce the time caregivers spend on excretion checks by up to ~50%. This could allow staff to focus on higher-quality individualized care and other duties, potentially leading to annual cost savings of ~$1M (AI est.) and reduced staff turnover. Additionally, patients could experience less discomfort from being left in soiled diapers, reducing the risk of skin issues and ultimately improving resident satisfaction.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2021-130059
REGISTRATION NO.
7672661
FILING DATE
2021/08/06
GRANT DATE
2025/04/25
EXPIRATION DATE
2041/08/06
PATENT HOLDER
国立大学法人富山大学
Examination History
2024年08月01日
出願審査請求書
2025年04月15日
特許査定