Kidney Stones: Your Scans, Stone Analysis and Urine Tests as Research Data

Every figure in this guide comes from a published source, linked where it appears and kept in CureCircle's evidence base with the source's own words. It is not medical advice. Read on 7 November 2026.

Anyone who has had a kidney stone remembers the pain. What fewer people know is how often stones come back, and how much prevention depends on details: what the stone was made of, what the urine tests showed, how much the person drinks, eats and changes. Those details, and the person's own record of each episode, are what research on preventing kidney stones needs.

How many people it affects

The Global Burden of Disease study counted 106 million incident cases of urolithiasis in 2021, of which 67% were in men. In the United States, 10.1% of adults reported a history of kidney stones in 2015 to 2016.

The records worth keeping

NICE's guideline on renal and ureteric stones, and the European Association of Urology's guideline, describe the tests that leave records:

• A CT scan when a stone is suspected: urgent low-dose non-contrast CT within 24 hours. The report gives the size and place of the stone.
• A stone analysis: NICE suggests considering stone analysis. Knowing what the stone is made of shapes prevention.
• A calcium blood test: measure serum calcium for adults with ureteric or renal stones.
• 24-hour urine tests for prevention, repeated every twelve months once results are normal.

If you do not have your scan reports or stone analysis, ask the hospital or your practice for a copy.

What sharing it is worth

CureCircle values every contribution with a public benchmark built from what health data has sold for. A complete kidney stone story with the records the guidelines list comes to about $62 per licence on the benchmark today. Every line and its source is on the kidney stones page.

A licence is not a one-off sale: the same de-identified story can be licensed to several research teams, and you earn a share each time.

How to share it

You start by writing what you live with in your own words; a few quick questions follow, then an AI interviewer asks about the details only you know, such as how many episodes you have had and what you changed, and you rate every treatment you tried. You can add scan reports, stone analysis and urine results as PDFs or photos, and the AI reads them into your own medical file. Before anything is shared, you read the de-identified summary and decide.

Start your story, or read what your health data is worth first.