As part of its ever-expanding line of smart health products, Finnish company, Withings has set its sights on an underserved market: at-home urinalysis. Its new U-Scan, announced at CES 2023, is intended to give users a hassle-free way to get a handle on what’s going on inside their bodies.
Thanks to four years of development and 13 patents, the U-Scan is about as simple as at-home urinalysis gets, consisting of a replaceable testing cartridge within a reader that itself rests inside the toilet bowl. The reader detects when a user is “requesting a test” (if you think it’s voice-activated, guess again) and will collect a sample, complete its analysis, and send the data to Withings’ smartphone app for review. Each replaceable cartridge contains enough tests for about three months of usage, and users can recharge it via USB-C.
Though Withings encourages daily use, users can simply adjust their aim or use a different toilet to avoid activating the unit with every whiz. The app will focus findings on reproductive health and nutrition for starters, though Withings stresses that results are meant as insights only and should not be considered medical advice.
Somewhat fittingly, European customers can purchase the Withings U-Scan for $500 later this year. US customers shouldn’t hold their breath (or their bladder): the FDA has to clear it for sale in the States, which could take months or years as well as affect the insights available from the app.
For more from CES 2023, check out the Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor.