German companys smart toilet seat that can tell you if you have a heart problem

Your bathroom break could become a heart checkup.One company’s smart toilet seat can detect atrial fibrillation, or AFib — the most common heart rhythm disorder — just as reliably as the conventional EKG tests done in medical offices and hospitals, according to a study.That’s a potential game-changer considering an estimated 12.1 million American adults are expected to be living with AFib by 2030.The condition causes the heart to beat too slowly, too quickly or irregularly, but many people don’t know they have it.

Around one-third of AFib patients don’t experience symptoms at all, making early detection critical.German medical technology company Hamberger Medical developed the HARO EKG-seat, a smart toilet seat integrated with with EKG sensors similar to those used during the EKG tests performed in medical offices and hospitals.The Hamberger Heart Study compared the toilet seat’s accuracy in detecting AFib with that of conventional medical EKG devices.

Researchers found a high level of agreement between the toilet seat’s 6-lead EKG system and the standard 12-lead medical EKG, according to Hamberger Medical.The company also emphasized how simple the EKG-seat is to use compared to a traditional EKG.

Test subjects were able to operate the seat without any special instructions.Users simply sit on the toilet for about 30 seconds while a smartphone app records and analyzes the EKG data for signs of cardiac arrhythmia.While the full study results have yet to undergo independent peer review, the technology could ultimately help detect AFib earlier, when treatment is most effective.“If we intervene sooner in patients with AFib, their outcomes improve significantly,” Dr.Paari Dominic, a cardiac electrophysiologist and associate professor of internal and cardiovascular medicine, told the American Medical Association News Wire, noting “recent studies have shown that pursuing a strategy to maintain a normal rhythm in patients with AFib within a year of ...