Uh oh, stinky! - Smart toilets that can diagnose you

[williamcll]

Scientists continues researching on toilets that can analyze your waste to determine health issues. It is believed that it can outperform most if not all common smart devices.

Quote

Wearable, smart technologies are transforming the ability to monitor and improve health, but a decidedly low-tech commodity — the humble toilet — may have potential to outperform them all.That’s the conclusion of a team of metabolism scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research, who are working to put the tremendous range of metabolic health information contained in urine to work for personalized medicine.Urine contains a virtual liquid history of an individual’s nutritional habits, exercise, medication use, sleep patterns and other lifestyle choices. Urine also contains metabolic links to more than 600 human conditions, including some of the major killers such as cancer, diabetes and kidney disease.

 

The team has two essential questions. First, can frequent monitoring and testing of urine samples glean useful real-time information about an individual’s health? And second, can a technology platform be adapted to toilets that can make the collection process simple, accurate and affordable?They received some promising answers to the first question in a small pilot study conducted this year, the results of which were published in the Nov. 11 issue of the open access Nature journal npj Digital Medicine. Two research subjects consistently collected all urine samples over a 10-day period and submitted those samples for tests with both gas chromatography and mass spectrometry for a complete readout of their metabolic signatures.The two subjects also happen to be lead authors on the paper: the Morgridge Institute’s Joshua Coon and Ian Miller, data scientist with the Coon research group. Collectively, they provided 110 samples over the 10-day period, and also used wearable technology to track their heart rates, number of daily steps, calorie consumption and sleep patterns

 

The results? The samples do indeed contain a remarkable health fingerprint that follows the ebbs and flows of daily life. For example, the subjects kept records of coffee and alcohol consumption, and the biomarkers with a known connection to both of those drinks were abundantly measured. One subject took acetaminophen, which was measured in urine by a spike in ion intensity. They were also able to measure with precision the metabolic outputs from exercise and sleep.The next step: The research team is designing a “smart toilet” that will incorporate a portable mass spectrometer that can recognize the individual and process samples across a variety of subjects. They plan to install the toilet in their research building and expand the user group to a dozen or more subjects. Coon says the design is “a bit Rube Goldberg-like” but functional.“We know in the lab we can make these measurements,” says Coon, a UW–Madison professor of chemistry and biomolecular chemistry. “And we’re pretty sure we can design a toilet that could sample urine. I think the real challenge is we’re going to have to invest in the engineering to make this instrument simple enough and cheap enough. That’s where this will either go far or not happen at all.”While the pilot experiment didn’t examine health questions, the researchers say many possibilities exist. For example, testing could show how an individual metabolizes certain types of prescription drugs in ways that could be healthy or dangerous. Also, as the population ages and pursues more stay-at-home care, urine tests would indicate whether people are taking their medications properly and if those medications are having their intended effects.

 

Coon also believes the smart toilet concept could have major population health implications, not unlike the National Institutes of Health “All of Us” human genome database. “If you had tens of thousands of users and you could correlate that data with health and lifestyle, you could then start to have real diagnostic capabilities,” he says, adding that it might provide early warning of viral or bacterial outbreaks.Coon, who runs the National Center for Quantitative Biology of Complex Systems, says the idea of meta-scale urine testing has intrigued him for some time. “Josh mentioned this at a group meeting one time and it was met with laughter,” Miller recalls. “I thought, you know, I kind of like the idea. I already track a lot this stuff in my everyday life.”Adds Coon: “So we went out and bought a couple coolers and started collecting.”

 

While the mass spectrometer small molecule analyses are being done on $300,000 machines, Coon says portable mass spectrometer technologies exist at a tenth of that cost. He says that with a market this massive, they could eventually hit a reasonable cost threshold.“Almost every automobile on the road is more complicated than that portable mass spectrometer,” he says.

Source:https://news.wisc.edu/can-smart-toilets-be-the-next-health-data-wellspring/

https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/news/could-a-toilet-monitor-your-health--1451212417
Thoughts: This is useful in not just in hospitals, but elderly care as well, it's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it. I won't imagine it to be cheap to get anytime soon.

[Fasauceome]

Great, now we can have yet another variable that allows insurers to charge even more due to any health discrepancy.

 

Seriously, since there's not really any feasible way that this data will be kept private, I highly doubt it will be used solely for purposes of improving the populace's health.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

2 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Great, now we can have yet another variable that allows insurers to charge even more due to any health discrepancy.

They can order a urine test as part of pre-existing conditions screening anyway. I for once would rather have my toilet test it than carrying around a pee container

It should also help with early detection of problems, a crucial variable in the success of many treatments. In fact, I wish I had this for blood too.

Data protection is a different story, but it's not an unsolvable one. We've had scale at home since forever, and it's never been an issue. But if we buy a scale that connects to the internet for shallow reasons /no reason at all, then yes, data can end up anywhere. We can have laws about data privacy. We can have appliances that don't connect to the internet. We don't have to choose between technological progress and privacy. Progress =/= internet.

 

Now, of course, if we continue to accept as normal or a necessary evil that having a better <insert random product> entails an internet connection and a loss of privacy... I could see what you say happening easily.

 

I guess my bottom line is something like: don't question the development of more accessible diagnostic tools; instead question why Roomba vaccuum cleaners started having internet connections at some point, as if that would make them clean any better.

[Guest]

I hope they are ready for a shitload of data 

[mr moose]

 

2 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

Great, now we can have yet another variable that allows insurers to charge even more due to any health discrepancy.

 

Seriously, since there's not really any feasible way that this data will be kept private, I highly doubt it will be used solely for purposes of improving the populace's health.

 

Only a US problem.

 

 

[Salv8 (sam)]

welp i'm not going to japan!

[LeSheen]

14 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

Great, now we can have yet another variable that allows insurers to charge even more due to any health discrepancy.

Ah the land of freedom. Must be fun to live there

[WereCatf]

Pfft, I don't need one of these things to tell me that I piss diabetes, I have chocolate-milkshake running in my veins and more shit comes out of my mouth than my rear-end!

[Onehandstand]

 

[straight_stewie]

I never could figure out why people wanted every single thing to be connected to the internet: That's actually a really bad idea.

I mean, now we are connecting one of the most private things ever.

[captain_to_fire]

17 hours ago, floofer said:

I hope they are ready for a shitload of data 

I agree that metabolic disorders can be diagnosed with urine analysis but mental disorders? I'm not a psychiatrist and I don't plan to be one but I think the best way to diagnose mental disorders is through thorough history.

 

[GeekYuuki]

I can upload my shit to the cloud and have Google sell it?

 

Gross.

[rcmaehl]

Smart toliets, linked to your insurance company, raising your policies and ending your health insurance based on risky actions like alcohol consumption.

 

Discovery Channel predicted this 12 years ago

 

[Monkey Dust]

39 minutes ago, rcmaehl said:

Smart toliets, linked to your insurance company, raising your policies and ending your health insurance based on risky actions like alcohol consumption.

 

Discovery Channel predicted this 12 years ago

 

You won't be laughing at the drunk guy who pisses in his wardrobe then. It will be sound financial planning...

[TempestCatto]

This may be something of use to me. I cannot stand doctors, dentists, etc because of the trauma I incurred when I was younger (there are people with far worse experiences than me, and that only makes me fear more). I'm not the kind of person to skip on vaccines, mind you. I just won't go to a DR if I feel like something is wrong (like the dent in my skull, for example). That said, this would at least help me figure out what may be going on when I don't feel right. It may even lend me to have a better diet as a result of seeing the data. No doubt this data will not be secure in anyway, and no doubt it will be sold everywhere, no doubt that people will get targeted ads about their diet and health. But I digress, this will at least help people in a very direct and (hopefully) accurate way. I seriously may invest in this for myself.

[Bombastinator]

5 hours ago, captain_to_fire said:

I agree that metabolic disorders can be diagnosed with urine analysis but mental disorders? I'm not a psychiatrist and I don't plan to be one but I think the best way to diagnose mental disorders is through thorough history.

 

Best current way.  is the mental disorder a symptom of a metabolic one or not?  A few are known to be.  That British king who pissed blue comes to mind.

[mr moose]

3 hours ago, rcmaehl said:

Smart toliets, linked to your insurance company, raising your policies and ending your health insurance based on risky actions like alcohol consumption.

 

Discovery Channel predicted this 12 years ago

 

 

Typical USA problem,  I don't want a device that might save my life with an early diagnosis of something treatable because it will cause the cost of my insurance to go up. 

 

For countries like Canada, Australia the UK and NZ, a device like this will make public health even more financially viable as early treatment is often much cheaper than long term palliative care.   We will all benefit from it here, in fact I bet if they perfect it we start seeing it in public toilets, do your business and the screen on the door on the way out tells you to go see a doctor. 

[Guest]

11 hours ago, captain_to_fire said:

I agree that metabolic disorders can be diagnosed with urine analysis but mental disorders? I'm not a psychiatrist and I don't plan to be one but I think the best way to diagnose mental disorders is through thorough history.

 

Probably specific biomarkers can correlate with physiological disorders. This includes the microbiome. 
 

I disagree that disorders such as PTSD etc can be diagnosed this way as there is no physiological distinction. 
 

[Founders]

How long until Apple's keynote includes the iCrap in silver, space grey, gold, and pink? They can also do a limited run in red and call it uCrap2. 

[redbread123]

On 11/28/2019 at 9:35 AM, williamcll said:

Scientists continues researching on toilets that can analyze your waste to determine health issues. It is believed that it can outperform most if not all common smart devices.

Source:https://news.wisc.edu/can-smart-toilets-be-the-next-health-data-wellspring/

https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/technology/news/could-a-toilet-monitor-your-health--1451212417
Thoughts: This is useful in not just in hospitals, but elderly care as well, it's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it. I won't imagine it to be cheap to get anytime soon.

what if I eat my shit, and piss. how will I know what disease I get

[Beskamir]

This is actually a really cool idea! Hopefully it's cheaper than getting separate indicators for whatever illnesses each patient might be having.

[Xiee]

On 11/28/2019 at 12:55 PM, floofer said:

I hope they are ready for a shitload of data 

I see what you did there.

[Tilaron]

Can I just stick to giving my data logs to my GP in person? 

[williamcll]

18 minutes ago, Tilaron said:

Can I just stick to giving my data logs to my GP in person? 

Just disconnect your smart toilet from the internet.

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, williamcll said:

Just disconnect your smart toilet from the internet.

..and don’t even buy one from google. That is video I do not want to see.