Wearables alert those with incontinence before they need to go to the toilet
Work & Lifestyle
Brightly and D Free are wearables that use sensors placed around the abdomen, and alert the wearer when they will soon need the toilet.
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Those who suffer from urinary incontinence are often unable to physically determine when they need to use the toilet and have to rely on disposable pads and liners. But a new wearable belt called Brightly, which uses biosensors to monitor the expansion of the bladder, could provide a more dignified solution.
The belt is worn around the waist and and uses sensors and electrodes, located by the abdomen, to monitor the bladder’s rhythm. The device can tell when the bladder is full because the conductivity of the area changes. When this happens, the system sends a vibration or audio signal to the wearer’s smartphone over wifi, alerting them that its time to seek out a bathroom.
From Japan, providing a very similar service for those with fecal incontinence is D Free — a wearable device that similarly monitors the user’s bladder and intestines. D Free also offers wearers the ability to adjust the product to their needs — for example, someone in a wheelchair can select a 30 minute warning, to give them long enough to find a bathroom.
Could this technology be adapted for use by parents who are potty-training too?
7th September 2015
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