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Pillows to improve sleep, toilets to analyze urine at home, holograms to help surgeons: many new products presented on Tuesday in preview of CES, the major electronics show in Las Vegas, are intended for to take care of our bodies.
With the pandemic, health will once again be a major theme at the event, says tech analyst Avi Greengart. “We should see really interesting health gadgets that monitor or improve our well-being“, he advances.
Home urine analysis
No need to go to the laboratory for certain urine tests: the French company Withings has invented a device that is placed on the toilet bowl, like a deodorant block, called U-Scan.
Just pee at home, as usual. A thermal sensor detects the urine and identifies which member of the household it comes from, to prevent visiting friends from being analyzed as well.
The liquid is then sifted into a cartridge containing up to 100 tests and lasting around three months. The results are sent to the phone and can be shared with the doctor.
Withings has developed two versions: one intended to follow the hormonal cycle of women, the other for nutrition with information on the level of hydration, PH or vitamin C. The company can, depending on the requests, suggest dietary changes.
A third version has also been designed for research projects, with people likely to have kidney stones for example.
“Having this data on a daily basis will allow the user, and the medical profession, to understand the health of the person, since these will not be measurements that will be taken once a year, or every two years“, remarks Mathieu Letombe, of Withings.
anti snoring pillow
For sleepers who, by snoring, wake up their partner or are bothered by their own noises, the South Korean company 10minds has designed an inflatable pillow linked to a sound sensor.
“When you start snoring, our system will detect it“, explains Daehyun Kim, a representative of the company, specifying that the machine can differentiate the noises of a possible partner or a dog.
The four airbags inside the pillow will then inflate or deflate, almost noiselessly,”so that your head turns to the side“.
The airways open, and the snoring stops.
The medical massage chair
For those who complain of having neck or back pain, the South Korean company Bodyfriend markets, for 9,500 dollars, a massage chair focusing on the back of the neck, the head being held in place by a headband.
The machine also diffuses heat in the back and emits pulsed electromagnetic waves supposed to reduce muscle pain. With the feet and calves also surrounded, the body is enveloped by the chair, which tilts.
“Our technology helps solve problems created by technology“, remarks Changjoo Kim, responsible for the company in North America: spending time on your phone and other screens can create back problems.
Augmented reality for surgeons
The French company Abys Medical wants, with its software and its augmented reality helmet, to help orthopedic and traumatology surgeons to operate.
Before the act, the medical team can plan the intervention by bringing together on a platform all their x-rays and other medical images and thus recreate the patient’s skeleton in 3D, like a “digital twin”.
In the operating room, the surgeon can use his helmet to access this information at any time in the form of a hologram, including, for example, a representation of the spine that he can look at from several angles with a simple movement of his fingers.
The tool can be particularly beneficial to less experienced surgeons, says Arnaud Destainville, co-founder of the company. It can also prove that the caregiver planned the intervention correctly.