A toilet seat that detects heart failure
The high-tech toilet seat is equipped with an array of sensorsów to measureóin the heart’s electrical and mechanical activity, heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygenation levels, patient weight or the amount of blood pumped out of the heart with each beat. Plus, it’s waterproof, connects wirelessly to Wi-Fi and requires no configuration by the patient.
The data obtained is analyzed by special algorithms, whichóre to report their deteriorating health if necessary. The report will also go to cardiologistów whichóThey will then determine whether intervention is necessary.
A toilet seat-based cardiovascular monitoring system developed by a team ofóThe context of theóIn Rochester Institute of Technology aims to reduce the number of hospitalizations in patientsóin congestive heart failure. The toilet seats, once approved by the FDA, will be purchased by hospitals and issued to heart failure patients after discharge from the hospital – This is how the future of their invention is seen by its authors.
– Typically, 25 percent of patients are readmitted within 30 days of hospital dischargeów with congestive heart failure. After 90 days from hospital discharge, 45 percent of patients are readmittedów – said Nicholas Conn, a member of the research team, który developed the device.
Smart toilet seat detects a patient’s deteriorating condition before the patient is aware of the situation. With rapid data analysis, medical interventions can be as simple as changing a drug or cróA quick visit to a clinic, rather than another hospitalization.
The device was tested on 18 patients over an 8-week period. The results obtained with it were very accurate and did not differ from measurementsóin the performed with standard methods.
The authors of the invention claim that their product could save millions of lives and make it easier to monitor patientóin the at-risk group providing accurate information and in real time. „This system has the potential to address many of the challenges of patient monitoringóin their homes” – have written twórcy presenting his device in a journal „JMIR mHealth”.