Toilet Bowl Optical Engine
An optical engine directly attached to a surface of a toilet bowl is disclosed. An optical element of the optical engine traps urine for analysis. A cleaning jet may be used to clean and dry the optical element after urine is analyzed. A heater may be used to preheat a urine capture area before receiving urine and control urine temperature while testing the urine. User feedback associated with urinalysis results may be visually given to a toilet user by one or more light sources of the optical engine.
1 . A toilet comprising:
a bowl which receives urine;
an optical engine directly attached to a surface of the bowl, the optical engine comprising a first light source, and a first detector;
wherein a portion of the urine is captured and analyzed on an optical element of the optical engine; and
wherein user feedback of the analyzed urine is given visually on or near the optical element.
2 . The toilet of claim 1 , wherein the optical element forms at least part of a slit, indentation, trench, pattern, divot, concavity, prism, lens array, or diffraction grating.
3 . The toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor which contacts the optical element or the urine.
4 . The toilet of claim 3 , wherein the temperature sensor is used to detect the urine entering the toilet and to control a temperature of the urine.
5 . The toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a cleaning jet which cleans the optical element.
6 . The toilet of claim 5 , wherein the cleaning jet sprays water, air, or a combination thereof.
7 . The toilet of claim 1 , wherein the light engine comprises one or more polarizers, patterned polarizers, lenses, micro-lens arrays, patterned micro-lens arrays, diffraction gratings, nano-structured optical elements, optical retarders, nano-structured patterned lenses, light collimators, or light detectors.
8 . The toilet of claim 1 , wherein the optical element comprises a hydrophobic surface coating or a hydrophilic surface coating.
9 . The toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a first beam splitter.
10 . The toilet of claim 9 , further comprising a second beam splitter.
11 . The toilet of claim 10 , wherein the first beam splitter and the second beam splitter are polarization beam splitters.
12 . The toilet of claim 11 , wherein the first beam splitter and the second beam splitter are coaxially located on an optical axis.
13 . The toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a second light source.
14 . The toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a second detector.
15 . The toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a second light source, a second detector, and a first beam splitter.
16 . The toilet of claim 15 , wherein the optical engine uses both reflection and transmission modes to analyze the urine.
17 . The toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a controller operably connected to the optical engine.
18 . The toilet of claim 17 , wherein the controller comprises a wireless or wired transceiver.
19 . The toilet of claim 1 , further comprising a heater in thermal communication with the optical element.
20 . The toilet of claim 1 , wherein the optical engine is glued to the surface of the bowl.