Scientists Developing Smart Toilet That Monitors Health

You’re already helping keep people healthy when you clean toilets; in the future you may be helping science as well. Scientists at the Morgridge Institute for Research at University of Wisconsin-Madison are preparing to develop a smart toilet that collects urine samples for testing, WYNTV News reports.

Urine contains a history of an individual’s nutritional habits, medication use, and other lifestyle choices. It also contains metabolic links to more than 600 human conditions and illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, and kidney disease. Instead of disposing this valuable information, scientists say the toilet would put aside a urine sample and test it for medicine metabolization, caloric intake, alcohol consumption, and other factors. After testing the urine sample, the toilet would send the results to a mobile phone, electronic device, or smart watch.

The scientists are about three months away from developing a prototype. They plan to install the toilet in their research building and test it with about a dozen people.