This wearable device alerts you before you have to poop

Fecal incontinence – the loss of bowel control – affects an estimated 2.2 percent of the general population around the globe. The actual number is likely much higher, as cases are underreported due to embarrassment. Treatment often requires surgery, drugs, or a combination of both – or diapers.

According to reports, a Japanese startup may have devised a technological alternative to all of those.

D Free is a wearable device, created by Tokyo- and California-based venture Triple W, that tells users when they will have to go to the bathroom. The “D” stands for diaper – an important moniker in Japan, especially, where the adult diaper market is expected to surpass the baby diaper market by 2020.

D Free as a miniature ultrasound. Weighing just 20 grams and measuring 1.4 x 2.0 x 0.4 inches, the tiny white module can be worn inside a user’s belt or in special underwear. It sends ultrasonic pulses into the abdomen – users can choose the frequency, from every second to every 10 seconds – that detect waste buildup in the bladder and intestines. D Free shares this data with a user’s (or caregiver’s) smartphone, up to 20 meters away, via Bluetooth LE.

Alerts can also be tailored to a user’s specific condition. Someone with full mobility, for example, can set the app to alert them 10 minutes before they should use the toilet. Someone bound to a wheelchair, on the other hand, can receive the alert 30 minutes prior, to give them more time to find an accessible bathroom or to call for assistance.

Battery life, depending on how often the device sends out an ultrasound, is generally about a week. It uses inductive charging to avoid external ports.

Yuki Aoyama, Triple W’s managing director, envisions the product becoming as integral to nursing homes as thermometers are to hospitals. Like a household thermometer, the startup also hopes to avoid the high hurdles associated with being certified as a medical device.

“D Free is not a medical device, it’s more of a medical commodity,” Aoyama explains. “We are working with the FDA and other regulators in Japan, but [medical device certification is] not a necessity.”