Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2026

Keywords

JMG, Animals, Urination, Software, Female, Reproducibility of Results, Phenotype, Mice, Behavior, Animal, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Urinary Bladder, Male

JAX Source

Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2026;330(5):F513–F21

ISSN

1522-1466

PMID

41874957

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00441.2025

Grant

This work was funded through T32AG062409 (to C.C.H.) and P30AG038070 (to R.K.)

Abstract

The void spot assay (VSA) is a widely used, noninvasive method for evaluating urinary behavior in rodents, but existing analysis tools are limited in scope, throughput, or accessibility. We developed Spoti-find, a stand-alone, open-source VSA image analysis application that introduces novel, biologically meaningful metrics including void circularity, distance to paper edge, and volume-based binning into primary, micro-, and nanovoids. Designed with usability in mind, Spoti-find features a graphical interface that enables manual or semiautomated spot identification, adjustable thresholds, and streamlined data export without the need for coding expertise. We validated Spoti-find across diverse datasets, showing strong interuser consistency, sensitivity to known phenotypes in aging and disease models, and accuracy in capturing novel parameters while demonstrating high agreement with existing tools. By capturing behavioral context and spatial morphology in voiding patterns, Spoti-find expands the interpretive power of VSA and provides a flexible, user-friendly platform for phenotyping urinary dysfunction in preclinical studies.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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