New Device Scans Waste for Health Insights

Key Takeaways

Kohler, a company primarily known for its plumbing fixtures, has introduced the Dekoda scanner, a smart camera designed to attach to your toilet. This innovative device works in conjunction with a companion app to analyze urine and stool, tracking patterns over time and offering insights into your health. While it's an unusual approach, doctors acknowledge that monitoring bowel habits can be valuable for detecting changes in gut health.

Persistent changes in your bathroom output, particularly blood in the stool, should always prompt a visit to a healthcare professional. The Dekoda scanner is one of the latest tools in the growing field of health tracking, which traditionally involves wearable devices. However, Kohler offers a different solution: an app-connected camera for your toilet that analyzes your poop and urine.

The Dekoda scanner clamps onto the side of your toilet bowl and uses sensors to scan the contents. It employs spectroscopy to examine how light interacts with your waste, while also tracking factors like frequency, consistency, and shape of your stool. The device can also analyze urine to assess hydration levels.

To use the scanner, you need to hold your phone next to a sensor on the outside of the bowl or use a fingerprint analyzer to start the process. Once initiated, the scanner performs a continuous scan throughout your session. Afterward, the data is sent to a companion app on your phone, where it is stored and analyzed over time to create a profile of your health and progress.

Kohler emphasizes that the device uses discreet optics to analyze only the contents of the toilet bowl. The scanner is powered by a rechargeable battery, and when it runs low, the battery can be removed and charged via a USB cable.

How the Dekoda Scanner Works

The Dekoda scanner is a sleek device that attaches to the side of your toilet bowl. The lid sits on top of this. Once installed, the scanner uses sensors to analyze the contents of the bowl. It specifically uses spectroscopy to observe how light interacts with your stool, while also keeping track of things like how often you go, the consistency of your waste, and its shape. The device can also analyze your urine to determine your hydration level.

Not every bathroom visit will result in analysis. To activate the scanner, you must hold your phone next to a sensor on the outside of the bowl or use a fingerprint analyzer. Then, the scanner will perform a continuous scan from the beginning to the end of your session.

Once you're done, the app delivers insights about your health. The app tracks your toilet data over time to create a profile of your health and progress. Kohler claims the device has discreet optics that analyze only what's in the toilet bowl.

How Much Does the Dekoda Scanner Cost?

There are several costs associated with the Dekoda scanner. The hardware, including the camera and its housing, costs $599. Additionally, users must sign up for a Kohler Health app membership. The cost of the app membership varies depending on whether it's a single user or a family membership. Single users pay $6.99 per month or $70 per year, while those with a family membership (which can analyze up to five people) pay $12.99 per month or $130 per year.

Kohler Health App Gives You Health Insights

Like many fitness and health trackers, the Dekoda scanner sends data to a corresponding app. The app analyzes various factors, including the consistency and frequency of your bowel movements, your hydration level, and whether there is blood in your stool. These metrics are organized into charts that show how they change over time. The app also provides insights, such as the number of sessions you had in a day and a breakdown of the types of stool you passed.

The Dekoda even gives you a gut health score that you can monitor over time.

What the Contents of Your Toilet Bowl Can Tell You About Your Health

While it may seem unconventional, gastroenterologists agree that there is value in examining the contents of your toilet bowl. Aditya Sreenivasan, MD, a gastroenterologist at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says that providing people with direct access to personal health data is an excellent idea. He notes that this trend has gained momentum, from services like 23andMe providing genetic data to companies offering microbiome testing.

However, Dr. Sreenivasan points out that interpreting data from the toilet bowl is extremely challenging for a device, especially when it comes to areas of medicine that aren't fully understood, like the gut microbiome.

Rishi Naik, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says that you can collect a lot of the data that the Dekoda provides simply by looking in your toilet bowl. He sees potential uses for the device in cases of visual impairment or during colonoscopy preparation.

A Smart Poop Scanner Is No Replacement for Colon Cancer Screening

Dr. Naik warns that people might confuse the data from the device with cancer screening and avoid future tests as a result. He emphasizes that the device has not been shown to detect hidden blood in the stool, unlike stool-based tests for colon cancer.

Overall, doctors recommend checking the contents of your toilet bowl. Whether you need a device to help with this is questionable. Dr. Naik says that changes in stool caliber, mucus, and blood can provide clues about your digestion, absorption, and overall gut health.

He suggests using online diagrams like the Bristol Stool Chart to look for changes in your own bowel movements by comparing your poop with the chart.

When to Seek Medical Attention

If you spot blood in your stool, whether through a device or the naked eye, Dr. Sreenivasan says it's important to contact a healthcare professional for an evaluation. Dr. Naik adds that it's crucial to see a healthcare professional if you have persistent changes in bowel habits, such as:

• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Poop that is more narrow than normal
• Rectal bleeding
• Persistent stomach pain
• Feeling like you didn't get everything out

These symptoms are not normal and should be evaluated, according to Dr. Naik.