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You realize that excessive paranoia you have got about dropping your favourite machine in the bathroom? Withings needs you to neglect all that for its newest health-tracking machine, the U-Scan, which isn’t solely particularly designed for use in a rest room bowl, however to be urinated on as properly. Stick to us; it’s not as gross because it sounds.
There’s solely a lot well being data that may be collected from strapping a smartwatch to your wrist, clipping a pulse oximeter to your finger, or wrapping an inflatable blood stress cuff round your higher arm. That’s why medical doctors will usually order blood samples to be taken or request that sufferers pee in a cup for detailed urine evaluation at a lab earlier than making a analysis.
Urine checks that may be carried out at dwelling aren’t a brand new concept, however the information they supply is usually restricted. Pharmacies promote strips that can be utilized to check for urinary tract infections, whereas urine checks stay the most affordable and best approach to affirm a being pregnant with no journey to the physician. With the U-Scan, Withings is increasing the well being data that may be gleaned from urine with out sending it off to a lab, whereas additionally making the gathering course of fully hands-off.
The {hardware} is harking back to Google’s Chromecast dongle, however as a substitute of plugging right into a TV’s HDMI port, you hold it within the entrance of a rest room bowl, the place you then intentionally urinate on it. The U-Scan’s easy, pebble-shaped design funnels urine alongside its floor down into a group inlet on the backside, the place a thermal sensor detects the presence of the fluid and prompts a pump, which pulls the pattern inside and thru a “microfluidic circuit.” Whereas a person is urinating, a “low-energy radar sensor embedded into the machine” also can acknowledge and distinguish between a number of customers by detecting their “distinctive urine stream signature” by a characteristic Withings calls Stream ID.
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Inside the U-Scan is a replaceable cartridge, good for about three months, filled with dozens of test pods into which urine is injected. Chemical reactions then occur when one or several biomarkers are detected, producing specific colors that are analyzed by an optical sensor. After the test is complete, the remaining fluids are pumped out of the U-Scan and back into the toilet. The device itself is cleaned during every flush, although you still might want to reach for a pair of gloves when swapping cartridges or giving it a charge, which you’ll need to do every three months.
The results of the U-Scan’s tests are shared over wifi to Withings’ private servers and made available through the company’s accompanying mobile apps, which allows the results and each user’s personal health data to be tracked over time. There’s no timeline for when U-Scan will be available in the United States—Withings is still developing it for the US market and it will require FDA clearance first—but the starter kit will go on sale in Europe next year for €499.95 (about US $530) and will include one of two different three-month cartridges, with the option to buy more through a subscription plan or standalone.
The U-Scan Nutri Balance cartridge and app will provide information on a user’s pH, vitamin C, carb balance, and ketone levels to help “monitor their metabolic intake to optimize their daily hydration and nutrients” and recommend “workouts, dietary suggestions, and recipes to achieve identified goals.”
The U-Scan Nutri Balance cartridge and app is instead designed specifically for “cycle tracking, coaching, and journaling” and provides information on “cycle predictions and ovulation window based on hormonal detection alongside key hydration and dietary biomarkers.” The user can also document other symptoms the U-Scan can’t detect, including period flow, mood, food and water intake, and cervical fluids. The hope is that, together, the U-Scan and the journaling will provide more accurate predictions and insights into a user cycle than apps that rely on journaling and self-collected data alone.
