The Toilet Lab That’s Quietly Redefining Home Health
Slice of Healthcare Team
11/03/2025
You flush away more health data than you realize. Withings wants to change that—without changing your routine.
What It Does
The Withings U-Scan is a hands-free, toilet-embedded urine lab that analyzes your pee for key health markers—no strips, no mess, and no awkward logistics. It’s the first system of its kind to bring clinical-grade urine testing into the home, offering real-time insights into things like hydration, vitamin intake, and kidney stone risk.
Snap it into your toilet, and U-Scan does the rest: detecting urine, collecting a sample, and transmitting results to the Withings app for analysis.
How It Started
Development began in 2018, long before “smart toilets” were a thing. The idea? Build a health tracker that people wouldn’t have to think about—one that fits naturally into daily life and captures the kind of data usually locked behind clinic walls.
After years of prototyping, cartridge redesigns, and patented shell upgrades, Withings landed on a clean, compact solution. At CES 2023, U-Scan debuted as an innovation honoree. By 2025, it was ready for home bathrooms.
Why It Stands Out
Urine is packed with over 3,000 metabolites, but most at-home health tools ignore it. U-Scan changes that.
Unlike wearables that track external data—steps, heart rate, sleep—U-Scan taps into internal biomarkers. It doesn’t just tell you how you’re doing; it shows you why. And it does it automatically, with optical sensors, thermal detection, and a clever cartridge system that makes daily sampling effortless.
There's no need to handle anything. No strips to dip. No containers to label. Just sit, flush, and check the app.
A Real World Example
Let’s say you're training for a half-marathon. With U-Scan Nutrio’s nutrition-focused cartridge, you can monitor your ketone levels to see if your metabolism is shifting. Not getting enough Vitamin C? It'll flag that. Dehydrated? Your urine’s specific gravity will tell the tale.
For someone with a history of kidney stones, the U-Scan Calci cartridge checks calcium and pH levels—two major risk factors. Combined with fluid balance tracking, it helps users stay ahead of potential flare-ups.
Who It Helps
The U-Scan is especially useful for:
- People managing hydration, nutrition, or metabolism
- Athletes fine-tuning performance and recovery
- Individuals at risk for kidney stones or chronic kidney issues
- Anyone looking for deeper health insights—without clinical visits
And because it requires no manual input or tracking, it's accessible even to people who may struggle with traditional at-home tests.
Where It's Going
Withings isn’t stopping at nutrition and kidney health. Future cartridges could unlock insights into hormone levels, menstrual cycles, or even early disease detection—turning the toilet into a frontline health monitor.
The company’s subscription model ensures users get fresh cartridges every few months, along with AI-driven insights through its Withings+ ecosystem.
Final Flush
The U-Scan seems promising. Will it catch on? We shall see. Learn more by visiting the Withings website.
