The CES tech show (known as the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada is full of health gadgets this year. Connected devices are headed everywhere, even to the toilet bowl.
French firm Withings is debuting U-Scan, an at-home urine lab that provides nutrition tips and can tell women where they are in their menstrual cycle.
«There is a mono-user device and we have integrated a feature called stream ID, we are able to actually recognize and identify the user who is urinating on the product, so we will only collect the urine when it’s you using the product,» explains Inna Ndaw, the product owner of Withings.
The device is just 90 mm in diameter and sits within most toilet bowls.
Elizabeth Coleon from Withings says they’re planning two different consumer products, one targeted towards hospitals and other healthcare settings, the other, for consumers.
«Urine actually has over 3,000 metabolites. So it’s a well of information that is typically not used very much because it’s very difficult to access. Most people do not like to go and have a urinalysis. Typically, people will go once a year to get tested instead of having that information tested over a regular basis and be given regular data, which can give much more insight on how to improve health,» she says.
The results are delivered to a smartphone app, providing analysis and recommendations based on the data. U-Scan will be made available in Europe by the middle of 2023.
A starter kit is expected to cost almost 500 US dollars.
