With U-Scan, the French Withings challenges the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. He unveils a urinalysis device to be placed directly in the toilet bowl.
For several years, Withings has positioned itself in the healthcare niche. Known for its connected watches, the French company now wants to revolutionize your toilets with a gadget that is attracting attention at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The U-Scan device offers to analyze the urine of its user directly at home.
Different cartridges for targeted analyzes
“On average, we urinate seven times a day, but we only perform a urine test once a year,” said Morgane Descat, director of product marketing at Withings.
The company therefore worked for four years and filed thirteen patent families to develop “the first non-invasive connected urinalysis laboratory”. Placed in the toilet bowl, the device consists of two parts: a reader, which collects urine, and a cartridge system which analyzes it.
Both cartridge types will be available at product launch. The first will be devoted to food analysis and will determine the impact of nutritional and water intake on metabolism. Depending on the results, the Withings application will give advice, such as recipes or activities, in order to achieve the objectives set by the user.
Marketing this year
The second cartridge will be intended for the analysis of menstrual cycles. This time, the company’s desire is to “relieve the mental load that accompanies monthly hormonal fluctuations”, indicates Morgane Descat. It will allow all users to know where they are in their cycle based on hormonal detection. All while continuing to provide essential hydration and nutrition data.
The device should be put on the market in the second half of 2023 in Europe for nearly 500 euros. For use in the United States, an authorization from the Federal Health Agency (FDA) is still pending.
