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‘Smart toilet’ monitors for signs of disease

med.stanford.edu

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Re: ‘Smart toilet’ monitors for signs of disease

#4
I guess it’s convenient and probably would save lives by way of course early detection...

But... what about going in for an interview and unbeknownst you get idd and samples get sent. Or your employer... oh so and so is coming on with an expensive disease which requires loads of time off to recover...

There are implications that need to be adressed.

Re: ‘Smart toilet’ monitors for signs of disease

#7
post #4

I guess it’s convenient and probably would save lives by way of course early detection... But... what about going in for an interview and unbeknownst you get idd and samples get sent. Or your employer... oh so and so is coming on with an expensive disease which requires loads of time off to recover... There are implications that need to be adressed.

I'm not quite sure that level of concern is warranted. It is illegal to ask for a medical examination before getting hired and I imagine this would extend to that. Testing poop, even with a smart toilet, would be pretty cumbersome and a huge PR nightmare. It would be just as easy now to remove hair for covert DNA tests - but I don't think that has ever been an issue.

Re: ‘Smart toilet’ monitors for signs of disease

#9
Personally I think this is going to be a critical aspect of healthcare in the future. That along with other continuous monitoring like smart watches with advanced pulse rate detection etc. And I think that the health improvements in terms of disease prevention and early treatment will be like night and day. They will look back at the pre-continuous-monitoring era of healthcare as the dark ages.

However, the part that I really disagree with is the idea that it would send your data to the doctor but not make it readily available to you. I personally feel like access to and control over my own personal health data is a human right that is actually often effectively blocked by our current healthcare system.

And I know that the belief is that normal people can't interpret health information, but with AI built into these types of devices and services and online knowledgebases, that isn't completely true anymore. Sure, we absolutely need doctors before making decisions, but that does not mean we should not be able to examine our own health data and do our own computer-assisted research. Especially when so many people cannot afford the costs of routine healthcare.

Re: ‘Smart toilet’ monitors for signs of disease

#10
post #7
post #4

I guess it’s convenient and probably would save lives by way of course early detection... But... what about going in for an interview and unbeknownst you get idd and samples get sent. Or your employer... oh so and so is coming on with an expensive disease which requires loads of time off to recover... There are implications that need to be adressed.

I'm not quite sure that level of concern is warranted. It is illegal to ask for a medical examination before getting hired and I imagine this would extend to that. Testing poop, even with a smart toilet, would be pretty cumbersome and a huge PR nightmare. It would be just as easy now to remove hair for covert DNA tests - but I don't think that has ever been an issue.

They say in the article that this toilet does not test the poop, it just analyzes the image.
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