Researchers invent 'smart toilet' for tracking cancer and other serious diseases

In a recent study, scientists in the US have come up with an innovative 'smart toilet' concept for monitoring a person's health. The toilet is designed to detect signs of cancer and other serious diseases. The researchers built the device with an upward-facing-camera and test strips that would make use of artificial intelligence to test the user's urine and faeces.

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'Smart Toilet' Invention

The study was carried out by researchers at Stanford University in California and the report was published in the Nature Biomedical Engineering journal. The gadget has the ability to nullify the use of traditional stool and urine testing methods, proving to be an efficient device for people of all age groups.

The 'smart toilet' involves fitting an ordinary toilet with the gadgets for running the required tests, along with an application that would display the results regarding the person's health. The invention of the 'smart toilet' comes around as a hopeful initiative that would be followed by people in the years to come. 

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Smart Technology Device

The gadget for the smart toilet would be a part of 'continuous health monitoring', the technology category that also includes other smart devices like fitness bands, smartwatches and Bluetooth devices. The smart device would reportedly function using biometric data from each individual's anal print, a concept that was initiated around 15 years back.

Sanjay Gambhir, the Stanford professor who invented the concept, reportedly said that people laughed at his odd yet interesting idea years back. The professor also said that they had taken important steps to ensure that all the information collected from a person is protected under the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act, international media reported. 

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Since invented, the 'smart toilet' has been tested on 21 people. Scientists have also, reportedly mentioned that the device would be able to track up to 10 diseases, including cancers, diabetes and even heart disease. A survey was further done on 300 people, out of which 37% of them were "somewhat comfortable", while 15% were "very comfortable" with the use of the 'smart toilet'.  

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