Martin Knight, a material scientist, explained: "We found there was an excellent correlation between the shape of the urine stream and the urine flow rate."

The prostate is a small, doughnut-shaped gland directly under the bladder and surrounds the urethra (tube that clears urine from the body). It grows as men age, and can start to compress and narrow the urethra, the journal Public Library of Science One reports.

The bladder then has to work harder to empty, and as a result men have difficulty passing urine. This lack of flow could also affect the shape of a man's urine stream. Researchers found there was an "excellent correlation between the shape of the urine stream and the urine flow rate".

The new research is the first study to analyse the specific pattern a man's urine makes and whether it could be used to detect prostate problems, according to the Daily Mail.

Medical engineers used 60 healthy volunteers and 60 patients to test whether self-measurement of the shape of the urine stream could be used to predict maximum urine flow rate.

They found the men were able to self-evaluate their arcs to determine whether their flow rates were indicative of some kind of urinary problem such as those associated with prostate enlargement.

The charity - Prostate Cancer UK - estimates that 40 percent of men over the age of 50 and 75 per cent of men in their 70s have urinary symptoms that may be caused by an enlarged prostate.