Meet the Previvors
In 2017’s Future of Medicine report, we wrote that sensor-powered biotechnology systems would soon identify what illnesses are in our future, sometimes years before symptoms appear.
We will all become “previvors,” knowing which of the thousands of human diseases are stalking us. Big data and AI will be the key.
The amount of personal health data is growing exponentially, encompassing your medical history and DNA data, along with real-time information gleaned from your phone, smart watches and wearable sensors. As more information gets sifted through machine learning algorithms, the more patterns AI will be able to interpret.
New household devices — including smart toilets that analyze your waste — will soon be adding to that information. Combine that personal information with population-scale medical data, and health AI will become like a fortune-teller predicting when and how you will next fall ill. Armed with this information, previvor communities will coalesce into powerful lobbying groups able to compel corporations and governmental bodies to address their needs.
Smart Toilet Pilot Study Shows Promise
A team at Stanford Medicine has developed gadgets that can be fitted in an ordinary toilet to screen urine and feces and upload the encrypted health data. The technology may be particularly useful for monitoring individuals at high risk of developing particular illnesses
From the Study
The ‘smart’ toilet, which is self-contained and operates autonomously by leveraging pressure and motion sensors, analyses the user’s urine using a standard-of-care colorimetric assay that traces red–green–blue values from images of urinalysis strips, calculates the flow rate and volume of urine using computer vision as a uroflowmeter, and classifies stool according to the Bristol stool form scale using deep learning, with performance that is comparable to the performance of trained medical personnel. . . The toilet may find uses in the screening, diagnosis and longitudinal monitoring of specific patient populations.
From CES 2021:
A new toilet from Toto, powered by sensors and AI, analyzes your excreta and provides recommendations to improve your health.
Forces of Change
We’ve identified over 200 technological and social currents we see shaping the future. Forces of Change are significant drivers in the food, sports, and healthcare industries.
Steep advances in computational learning will be brought to bear on everything from workout routines to personalized diet recommendations.
Digitizing everything from livestock health to personal fitness to biological responses to certain ingredients, sensors are bringing real-time transparency and intelligence to every industry.
Miniaturization of robotic instruments will aid in highly complicated or repetitive surgeries, while replacing humans in data-driven procedures like radiology and anesthesiology. Robots will not lead to massive layoffs, but we will need fewer people in healthcare over time, as is the case in almost every industry. At hospitals, robots can clean rooms, transport patients, pick up laundry and deliver medicine.