الفهرس 
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Abstract
The identification of the components within urinary stones provides useful information in order to understand the cause of their formation and the prevention of their recurrence. These data are of interest for the clinical guideline in the prophylaxis, therapy and metaphylaxis of urolithiasis.
Among the methods available for urinary stone analysis, chemical analysis has been traditionally used most widely due to its ease and low cost even if this technique is time consuming and necessitates large stone samples.
The various hydration degrees cannot be determined through chemical methods. chemical methods cannot distinguish between similar crystalline entities, e.g. Calcium oxalate monohydrate vs Calcium oxalate dihydrate, Apatite vs. Brushite, etc.
FTIR can accurately determine the various hydration degrees of the urinary stones which help in understanding the genesis of stone formation. An example can be found in calcium phosphates, which constitute a very heterogeneous group with multiple etiology including infections (in the case of carbonated calcium phosphate and whitlockite), hypercalciuric mechanism (in the case of brushite and octacalcium phosphate), and disorders related to tubular acidification function (in the case of carbonate apatite).
FTIR is also effective in the identification of both the crystalline and amorphous nature of a stone, even when analyzing a small amount of sample.
It has been mentioned that using computerized IR spectrophotometer and large reference library enable us to determine exact quantitative stone composition, and this method should be extended to all urolithiasis centers.
Chemical methods have repeatedly proved to be unreliable in numerous quality control programs, with error rates in identifying certain components up to 90%.
Our study showed that the FT-IR shows a significant variability because it provides an easier and more standardized sample preparation, and the spectrum interpretation is based on strong scientific principles.
The results of our study and the review of the literature recommend the introduction of the FT-IR technique to be the standard method of stone analysis.