“We designed this for a 74-year-old woman,” states Olive Diagnostics co-founder and CEO, Guy Goldman. Speaking at CES2022, Goldman is describing a smart toilet that promises to detect health issues before they become a problem.
Early detection of urinary tract infections (UTI) is the initial target of this passive approach of monitoring one’s health. Other health issues that Olive Diagnostics plans on monitoring include kidney stones, bladder infections, heart failure, dehydration, and constipation.
The underlying hardware, which is based on low-cost components used in mass market products, attaches to an existing toilet is effectively a tuned mass spectrometer that examines urine as it falls to the toilet bowl.
It communicates results either via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to their cloud software. Their software is the real magic as it pulls the signal from the noise and identifies anomalies in real-time. Of course, there is an associated app that allows one or one’s healthcare provider to track the composition of one’s urine over time.
In the above interview, Olive Diagnostics Founder and CEO, Guy Goldman, explains the motivation for this invention, explains how they are following privacy requirements, and paints a picture of how it will move from research lab to the average restroom.
Interview Overview
- 00:16 – Goldman provides and overview of how the technology works and how it has the potential to diagnose problems before people are aware there is a problem.
- 02:06 – Each person’s urine has its own fingerprint, which allows them to identify the person without having to use a smartphone, for instance.
- 03:45 – Goldman envisions a retail price of approximately $100 per month with a monthly subscription.
- 05:45 – It will not be a data hog, as Goldman estimates the upload to be about 20 Mbytes for a typical household of four people.
- 06:12 – It has the potential to work outside the home or institution, although that would require some sort of authentication device (e.g., smartphone).
- 07:04 – The next version of the product (shown in the animation) makes the retrofit of the toilet even easier than the CES2022 display unit (which was already simple as it is just a toilet seat replacement).
- 08:38 – They are looking at licensing/white labeling the technology and is actively working with partners.
- 09:54 – Broadband Service Providers could be potential partners.
- 11:25 – One of their early investors is the Israeli Water Authority
- 12:32 – Reduction in hospitalizations is one way to measure the ROI of their product.
- 13:53 – Goldman’s mother and her misdiagnosis was the motivation for the product.
- 17:20 – Goldman discusses their financing and manufacturing plans.
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