Why Toilet Tech Is a New Fitness Frontier

How you use your bathroom can tell you a lot about your general health, including how hydrated you are and how healthy your gut microbiome is. At CES 2023, the tech company showed off a device that takes a different look at your trip to the bathroom, measures your blood pressure, checks for nutritional deficiencies, and collects other data.

The catalog of wearables and smartwatches just keeps getting smarter and easier, and health tracking gets easier every year. If you’re looking for health information that’s easier than wearing a watch, toilet health tech is for you.

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Withings U-Scan analyzes urine at home

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Toilet products that directly test the origin of pee

Home urinalysis is not a new concept. They’ve been around for a while and will likely test things like pregnancy, LH (the hormone that spikes before ovulation), UTIs, and, in the case of the app-paired company Vivoo, nutritional deficiencies. At this year’s CES, Vivoo went one step further and unveiled a smart toilet seat with a built-in urine tester.

According to Vivoo, the clip-on Smart Seat, a clip-on seat that can be attached to a regular toilet, contains sensors that move with the user’s urine flow, providing results for several different health parameters at once. , will be sent to the mobile phone app. Although the exact biomarkers have yet to be determined, one can expect the sheets to track intake of hydration, urine pH, ketones, and nutrients such as sodium, magnesium, and calcium. .

Smart sheets are not yet available. Vivoo is still working on manufacturing details and will have to submit details to the US Food and Drug Administration to get approval to market the device. According to Vivoo, the goal is for him to enter the consumer market in 2025, by which time the toilet seats will be available in nursing homes and similar industries serving the elderly.

If you’re eager to buy an in-bowl urine sensor, the Withings U-Scan is a safe bet and made this year’s list of quirkiest gadgets. , will fit either of the two test cartridges. One for tracking menstrual cycles and ovulation, and another for tracking metabolic and nutritional information such as ketone levels and vitamin C.

U-Scan is not yet available as it has been submitted to the FDA for review. Withings says it should be available in Europe from mid-2023.

A toilet seat that allows you to measure your blood pressure while sitting

By the end of the year, you’ll be able to pick up your prescription for Casana’s Heart Seat. This is a real toilet seat that can measure heart rate, blood oxygen level and blood pressure via sensors.

That’s right, it’s a toilet seat that measures your blood pressure. According to the company, you’ll have to “normally sit” on John for at least 30 seconds, and John will passively look for health trends and information and send it to your doctor or medical team. Your provider will then get information if, for example, your blood pressure or heart rate is outside the normal or safe range.

The FDA is currently reviewing Heart Sheets, a medical device, so you’ll need a prescription to get one. However, if needed, Casana hopes to have it on the market before the end of the year.

Read more about how this finger-only device makes blood pressure measurement easy, and why cuffless monitors like this could be the future.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE IS FOR EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED AS HEALTH OR MEDICAL ADVICE. Talk to your health care provider.