In-toilet apparatus for discrimination of urine and feces
View Patent ↗An in-toilet apparatus for discrimination of urine and feces is disclosed. An optical sensor is provided for the analysis of urination and defecation events within a toilet bowl. Additionally, strain gauges are provided to make possible the quantification of urine and feces that a user releases. The combination of data from the optical sensors and strain gauges makes it possible for a user to readily know the mass of their bodily excrements, characterized by excrement type. In several embodiments the optical sensor is a thermal camera mounted on the toilet seat or in the toilet bowl. In other embodiments the optical sensor is a water level sensor. In varying embodiments, strain gauges are located in the toilet seat or in an attached footscale or both.
1. An in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus comprising:
an optical sensor;
one or more strain gauges;
wherein an output of the optical sensor and an output of the strain gauge are used to discriminate a weight of urine from a weight of feces in a user toilet session.
2. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is mounted on a toilet seat.
3. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the optical sensor has a field of view which is below a plane of the toilet seat.
4. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is mounted in a toilet bowl.
5. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the optical sensor has a field of view below a rim of the toilet bowl.
6. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the optical sensor is a plurality of optical sensors oriented such that a juxtaposition of input from the plurality of optical sensors provides a complete view of events within the toilet bowl.
7. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a thermal imaging sensor.
8. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a medium wavelength infrared camera.
9. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a long wavelength infrared camera.
10. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a visible light camera.
11. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one bio-impedance sensor.
12. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more strain gauges are located in the toilet seat and a footscale.
13. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising one or more wireless transmitters or receivers.
14. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a water-level sensor.
15. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the water-level sensor is mounted in a toilet trapway.
16. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a processor.
17. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a photodetector.
18. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a pyrometer.
19. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor is a proximity detector.
20. The in-toilet human excrement discriminating apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a gas sensor.