Researchers at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology created a toilet seat-based cardiovascular monitoring system to track heart failure patients' data after being discharged from the hospital.
The toilet seat, which is not FDA approved yet, will be issued to heart failure patients after leaving the hospital. Designed to measure the heart's electrical and mechanical activity, the toilet seat can monitor heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygenation levels and the individual's weight and stroke volume.
Once the biometrics are collected, algorithms are used to analyze the data. Researchers plan to add a function that will alert health providers of a deteriorating condition while the patient is asymptomatic, prompting providers to approach interventions like a prescription change sooner to avoid hospital readmission.
Human-subject testing and pre-clinical studies have begun, and researchers are currently writing grants for additional funding.