American researchers have created a toilet seat capable of detecting congestive heart failure.
Your toilets know a lot about your health… Especially when they are connected! American researchers have modified a toilet seat to place a battery of measuring instruments capable of detecting congestive heart failure.
Toilets equipped with sensors
Heart Health Intelligence is a medical start-up, part of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Its engineers placed sensors on a toilet seat to measure heart rate, blood oxygenation, patient weight and the amount of blood ejected with each heartbeat. All the data measured is then analyzed by an algorithm, which can detect congestive heart failure or warn caregivers in the event of a deterioration in a patient’s condition. “Typically, within 30 days of discharge from hospital, 25% of patients with congestive heart failure are readmitted to hospital,” says Nicholas Conn, founder of Heart Health Intelligence. In the 90 days following discharge from the hospital, the readmission rate even reaches 45%. For the engineer, the connected toilet system will allow caregivers to readjust treatments or organize a simple consultation rather than resorting to further hospitalization.
Smart toilet seat is flush with possibilities to monitor patients’ health https://t.co/beRO3KYodQ via @DigitalTrends
— Nicholas J. Conn, PhD (@nicholasjconn) February 6, 2019
One million people affected
Heart failure is said to be congestive when it concerns the left ventricle and the right part of the heart. This disease is due to a loss of cardiac muscle strength: the heart no longer contracts normally, and no longer pumps enough blood to properly supply the organs. In congestive heart failure, edema is common in the lower limbs and face. Those affected first experience abnormal fatigue on exertion and increased shortness of breath, as the disease progresses, the quality of life is increasingly impaired. If left unchecked, heart failure may require the patient to be hospitalized. In France, more than a million people are affected by the disease.
An innovation awaiting authorization
Researchers wish to put their innovation at the service of hospitals but also of individuals. They are now awaiting validation from the Food and Drug Administration, the administration in charge of authorizing marketing, in the United States in order to market the seat.
.
