While great strides have been made in the surgical treatment of kidney stones, the means to identify high-risk patients for the prevention of kidney stones has lagged far behind. Urinary stone disease is a common problem, causes significant disability and sometimes death, and costs society 1.8 billion dollars each year. Therefore, it is important to identify those patients who are at risk or in the process of developing kidney stones and develop procedures which halt and/or prevent stone formation. Unfortunately, the current methods used for identifying such patients are inadequate. Kidney stone patients undergo urine and serum testing to attempt to identify substances that are either in excess or deficit in the body. The levels of these substances are then adjusted with diet modification and/or the use of medication. Often, patients who have corrected their abnormal values via diet or medications or others who have no identifiable risk factors continue to form stones. Clearly, current testing methods used to identify the continuous formation of stones are not enough, largely due to the fact that the causes of this disease are not completely understood.