Culture & Entertainment

Smart Diapers?

Canadian Living
Culture & Entertainment

Smart Diapers?

One of the first things I read this morning when I came into the office was this headline "Smart diapers could soon diagnose illnesses in babies" Wait. What?! Smart Diapers? I was intrigued.   I had to read on. [HTML1] Ideally, one regular disposable diaper is replaced with a smart diaper daily. Pixie Scientific, the company behind the smart diaper, says it uses a QR code (or label) to track and determine the health of an infant through urine analysis. After scanning a used diaper with a smartphone, an app uses algorithms to analyze the results for abnormalities like impending urinary tract infection, dehydration, kidney function and even type 1 diabetes. The information can even be sent to a physician to diagnose the child with any serious problems. Founding couple, Yaroslav Faybishenko and Jennie Rubinshteyn were driving back home to New York from Vermont, with their two children crying in the back seat when the idea struck. Their youngest needed a diaper change and they realized "she wasn't just sitting in a diaper full of urine but in a diaper full of data". The diapers are not yet on the market. The FDA has yet to approve the urine test strips embedded inside the diaper. Testing of the product, however, will begin this September at the Benioff Children's Hospital at the University of California. New parents worry about the health of their babies a lot. The birth of a child comes coupled with impending concern. Will this smart diaper cause more stress for already worn-out parents or will it ease their worries? What are your thoughts on the smart diaper?

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