After tension, sleep or weight, the French Withings is launching a unique analysis in the world of consumer tech: that of your urine. A rich fluid whose daily monitoring and analysis would contain valuable information on our health. Whether it’s nutrition, the menstrual cycle or the monitoring of certain pathologies.
The monitoring of our biological markers knows no limits: after our pulse, our temperature or our fat mass, here is the French company Withings getting down to analyzing our urine. Thanks to U-Scan, a device to be installed in our toilet bowl, Withings wants to transform the occasional medical act of urine analysis into an act several times a day. Looking like a chunky Chromecast, the device attaches like a toilet deodorizer and you defecate on it.
Inside the machine, micro-cartridges carry out a chemical analysis of the compounds in the fluid. And it is an optical reader that will “read” the information before sending the results of this analysis over Wi-Fi so that they are stored, but also and above all interpreted in the cloud.
Every pee is different
Unlike the connected thermometer or the connected scale, you don’t want to click on a device installed in your bowl. This is why no mechanical action is necessary for the use of the device. After the declaration of users within the application, the U-Scan will be able to recognize the different users thanks to their “Stream ID”, their stream identity. Which is based on the analysis not chemical, but physical of the factory: a radar characterizes the variations and the distance of flow to associate the good person there.
Read also: Withings unveils Body Scan, a scale that does more than weigh you (January 2022)
Due to the chemical reaction, the analysis cartridge, which contains its own battery, only lasts three months before having to be changed by the user. If gloves are recommended for changing it, you should still know that the device is naturally washed with each flush. But yes, you will wash your hands after each quarterly change!
Deterrent price, female cartridge different from the nutrition cartridge
This quarterly cartridge change has a cost – and represents a recurring source of revenue for Withings. Which is added to that of the device, which is very high: 499 €. Far from the classic range of 100-200 € of health devices to which the general public is accustomed. A public who will also have to make a choice in terms of cartridge: the “U-Scan Nutri Balance” cartridge or the “U-Scan Cycle Sync” cartridge. The first being centered on the analysis of the quality of your food and hydration (measurement of pH, proteins, vitamin C, etc.) with the application which will then give you advice in these areas. As its name suggests, the second cartridge is dedicated to women who wish to follow their menstrual cycle, in particular for procreation projects. Within a couple, it will therefore be necessary to make a choice in the nature of the follow-up cartridge.
A third class of medical cartridges should see the light of day later. Centered on “analysis of biomarkers associated with various medical and health conditions”, these cartridges must await the approvals of the various health authorities to be put on the market. These authorizations are not trivial: if the U-Scan is already authorized in Europe (in particular for the data storage part, already compatible with GPRD), it has not yet received FDA approval ( Food and Drug Administration) in the USA. A necessary authorization because the device is identified as a medical device.
The U-Scan will be available during the second quarter in Europe at a price of €499 with a cartridge of your choice (Nutri Balance U-Scan Cycle Sync) and Withings should set up a subscription service to receive a cartridge every three months.
