Editor's Note
This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “Smart Toilet Monitors Health: ‘Human Waste is a “, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.
A toilet that recognizes the user by their anus, can diagnose diarrhea, and inspects urine for blood or other irregularities: according to American scientist Seung-min Park, you may soon install a smart toilet in your existing bowl. With such a toilet, you can only say something meaningful about health trends for an entire city or a few neighborhoods. What about the individual citizen who wants to use these techniques to learn about their own health? That's where the smart toilet comes in, which Park says should be available to consumers within two to three years. The data the toilet collects automatically enters an electronic patient record. Because such a toilet continuously monitors stool and urine, the general practitioner can sound the alarm in time if something serious might be going on. The new technology, developed at Stanford University in California, can use cameras to measure how fast or slow the urine of men urinating standing up enters the toilet. It can use a camera just below the seat to classify bowel movements from severe diarrhea to constipation. The toilet can also test for bacteria in the urine and thus diagnose, for example, a bladder infection. Is this the future? In any case, it is certain that a growing number of scientists are looking into sewage to learn more about health. For example, measurements of sewage water provide information about how the coronavirus and its variants are spreading across the Netherlands. But traces of drugs and even the degree of obesity in a municipality can also be found in the sewage. Electronic Patient Record The advantages of a smart toilet are evident, says Park. 'Human waste is a goldmine of information,' he says enthusiastically. Since the 1980s, work has been done on a smart toilet and the possibilities are growing. The prototype smart toilet from Park and his team, which appeared last year, collects health data in four ways. Test strips measure values in urine such as proteins, glucose levels, and blood. In addition, there are two cameras that film the urine stream and a third technology that analyzes the shape of the stool. Finally, there is a pressure sensor under the toilet seat that tracks how long the user takes for their business. Fingerprint The data goes directly into the correct patient record because the toilet recognizes the user by their fingerprint during flushing. In addition, there is a camera that can recognize the user by their behind. Here, the anus, which is unique to each person, acts as a kind of fingerprint. This is intended for a situation where someone uses the toilet, but someone else flushes it afterwards. Park and his colleagues are positive about the future of the smart toilet. Currently, the technology is only suitable for men urinating standing up; they are working on a version that can also monitor the urine stream in women. They also see possibilities to further develop the prototype into a test instrument for corona. From the stool, the toilet could then directly measure whether the user is infected with the virus. This would make a visit to the test lane a thing of the past. Park is not the only one who sees a golden market. For example, Israeli professor Abd Al Higazi is working in his lab in Jerusalem to develop a spectroscopic machine to install in the toilet. Spectroscopy works by means of light waves and can therefore measure the specific vibrations of molecules. 'The toilet can then see from the urine how healthy someone lives and give health advice via the smartphone,' says Higazi. 'You don't drink enough' could then appear as a notification. The doctor can also intervene in time in case of kidney failure due to diabetes or high blood pressure. 'When you discover that later, sometimes a new kidney is needed. And then the waiting list can be quite long,' says Higazi. Population Screening Yet not everyone is convinced. The latest prototype from Stanford University can measure the shape of the stool, but to know what is in the stool, the technology is not sufficient. According to Frank Vleggaar, gastroenterologist at UMC Utrecht, such a toilet only adds real value if it can, for example, measure blood in the stool. This can, especially in older people, indicate colon cancer. 'Now people between 55 and 75 years old are called up for the population screening for colon cancer; perhaps a smart toilet could function as a screening tool in the future, making the population screening no longer necessary.' Being continuously aware of all health data can also cause unrest and cause false notifications. A little blood in the stool does not have to indicate something serious. 'Younger people with blood in the stool may have a hemorrhoid. Or if a woman is menstruating, blood can also mix with the stool,' says Vleggaar. Bart van Bezooijen, urologist and chairman of the Dutch Association for Urology, also doubts whether the smart toilet is as smart as it seems. 'As men get older, they often get a weaker stream. That doesn't have to indicate something serious. It makes more sense to see if urine remains in the bladder, because that gives a risk of infections.' And that is something this toilet cannot do. Moreover, the built-in urine test strips can also give false positives. Then the toilet indicates that there is blood in the urine, but ultimately nothing is seen in the hospital. 'If there is really something going on, your urine looks red. Any human can see that themselves,' says Van Bezooijen.
Source: Read the original article | Published: May 27, 2021