• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, February 29, 2024

The word “widdle” is a cute, childish British way of saying “urinate.”

That’s apparently also the case in Australia, which is where you can find the Widdleometer, a consumer medical device to measure urine flow that debuted this fall. It’s now available from Amazon Australia and at some brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

Dr. Adrian Sheen, a family doctor in Western Sydney since 1981 who developed the Widdleometer as the first product under the Doc Sheen brand name, tells Pharma & Marketing Insider that the device is designed as an “early warning system” for potential prostate and bladder problems.

Sheen stresses that the Widdleometer, which he claims is the first product of its kind, is no substitute for seeing a doctor or urologist, but that similarly to how “a home blood pressure monitor can be used to help identify high blood pressure, the Widdleometer can be used to see if the flow of urine from the bladder is satisfactory or in need of investigation.”

While the usual cause of slow urine flow is an enlarged prostrate, which affects about 50% of men over 50, Sheen estimates that about 150,000 men in the U.S. each year have acute urinary retention – the sudden inability to pass urine resulting in emergency care visits.

Yes, he provides a U.S. figure – because the Widdleometer, he hopes, is coming to America.

Sheen registered the Widdleometer trademark in the U.S. four years ago, obtained a design patent last year and is currently waiting for an intellectual property patent.

He also plans to apply to the Food & Drug Administration for the Widdleometer’s approval as a medical device. (In Australia, it’s gotten l approval from that country’s FDA equivalent, the Therapeutic Goods Administration.)

To launch in the U.S., Sheen says he'll be talking with “potential distributors or partners who appreciate where the Widdleometer fits into the health system and can see its very large potential.”

The Widdleometer has been selling for $49.99 in Australian dollars, the equivalent of about $33 U.S.

Sheen can expect some healthy American skepticism, of course.

“As a 68-year-old man, I can reassure you that I do not need this to know that my stream is sometimes slow and that I awaken at night,” Dr. Michael Ziegelbaum, Urology Chief Emeritus-Long Island Jewish Hospital at Valley Stream, tells Pharma & Health Insider.

While acknowledging that the Widdleometer is inexpensive, “I don't think it has any intrinsic value in urologic evaluation,” Dr. Ziegelbaum says.

In-office flow machines themselves take a backseat at his practice “to my exam and the symptoms described,” he explains. “I cannot imagine a real market for this…but who knows?”

Pharma & Health Insider reached out to other U.S. experts for their take on the Widdleometer, but had not heard back by press time.

Our comments section, below, is open 24/7, however.