Withings has been very successful with its range of beautiful activity trackers and smart scales. The French health-tech company is expanding into medical analysis tech, and has launched the U-Scan – a device that sits in your toilet and scans urine. The company hopes to offer it as a consumer health device in the future for people to identify possible issues early on. For now, it will serve as a way of supporting decentralized clinical trials.
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The U-Scan is a pebble-shaped device that hangs from a plastic tab on the side of your toilet bowl, a lot like cleaning pucks. It is 90mm in diameter, and sits on the porcelain where it is most likely to come into contact with urine. There’s a collection inlet at the lowest point, and a sensor will detect the presence of urine and trigger a pump you pull a small quantity into its body. From there, the sample is pumped into a microfluidic system which triggers a chemical reaction.
There is then a cartridge underneath the device which contains the test you are looking to do. Withings has already partnered with two medical centres in Europe to create new ways of discovering renal lithiasis and bladder cancer. It’s hoped that the system will eventually be used to mass-screen for cancer markers and support medical studies.
When it comes to the consumer versions, Withings has already designed the U-Scan Cycle Sync, designed to be used for period tracking. The idea is to provide detailed, regular testing to enable fine-grain cycle tracking without the need for calendar apps. As well as predicting your menstrual cycle, the system says it’ll predict your ovulation window, hydration levels and nutrient levels.
The other major use case is U-Scan Nutri Balance, which offers a “detailed metabolic guide to hydration and nutrition.” This will look at your water balance, nutrient levels, fat metabolism and quantities of vitamin C found in your urine. Most crucially, you’ll be able to monitor your ketone levels, as well as the pH of your urine, good for determining if you’re eating a healthy enough diet.
