A toilet system comprising a bowl and an outlet, the toilet system being adapted for discerning between types of excretion excreted by a user of the toilet system, where the toilet system comprises at least one first sensor device configured to capture at least one signal indicative of a type of excretion excreted by a user of the toilet system, and at least one second sensor device configured to capture at least one signal indicative of a quantity of excretion excreted by a user of the toilet system.

Apparatuses for detecting swallowing disorders and methods for using same are provided. In a general embodiment, the apparatuses include a disposable sensor base and a sensor that is received by the disposable sensor base. The sensor base includes a sensor interface having a predetermined cut-away shape and a directionally-keyed mating surface. The sensor includes a handle portion having a shape that corresponds to the predetermined shape of the sensor interface, a support portion configured to be received by the directionally-keyed mating surface when the sensor is inserted into the sensor interface, and electronics configured to collect data sensed by the sensor. The apparatuses of the present disclosure can be attached to a patient's neck to detect and/or diagnose swallowing disorders during a swallowing test.

An excreta identification device includes: a sound data acquisition unit that acquires sound data collected by a microphone arranged in a toilet; an excreta identification unit that identifies which of defecation, urination, and farting has been performed by inputting the acquired sound data to an identification model subjected to machine learning where sound data indicating any of defecation sound, urination sound, and farting sound is an input value, and which of defecation, urination, and farting has been performed is an output value; and an identification result output unit that outputs an identification result.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to transcutaneous sound sensors. In at least one embodiment, a transcutaneous sound sensor system comprises a mounting unit and a sound sensor. The mounting unit detachably connects to an electronics unit and mounts to skin on a body. The sound sensor senses sounds originating from inside the body. The sound sensor comprises an in-vivo portion and an ex-vivo portion. The in-vivo portion is configured to be inserted through and placed beneath the skin of the body. In addition, the in-vivo portion has a sound-sensing element configured to produce an electrical signal in response to a mechanical stress or strain on the sound-sensing element. The ex-vivo portion is configured to operably connect to the electronics unit when the electronics unit is connected to the mounting unit.

This document describes a system for determining positioning of an intubation tube in a patient. The system can include a first acoustic sensor configured to be disposed to listen to one of a lung and a stomach of the patient and to provide a first signal. The system includes a signal processing unit, coupled to the first acoustic sensor, configured to analyze spectral components of the first signal and determine whether a frequency of the spectral components of the first signal are characteristic of sounds induced by ventilation via the intubation tube of airflow to the lung or the stomach of the patient.

An endoscopic system includes a processor. The processor generates from a measured value of pressure in a lumen of a subject a first temporal change image of the pressure in the lumen, generates an observation image for observing an opened/closed state of a valve portion in the lumen of the subject in real time from an image pickup signal obtained by picking up an image of the opened/closed state of the valve portion in the lumen in real time using an endoscope, and generates a superposition image by superposing the first temporal change image and the observation image in a temporally synchronized manner.

Provided is a biological examination apparatus and a biological information analysis method capable of quickly grasping a two-dimensional motions of the up-down and front-back directions of the thyroid cartilage and the lingual bone accompanied by a swallowing sound as swallowing dynamics by a non-invasive examination. In the biological examination apparatus of the present invention, an up-down motion component associated with an up-down motion of the thyroid cartilage and a front-back motion component associated with a front-back motion of the thyroid cartilage are extracted from a fitting result obtained by fitting a model function modeling a swallowing motion to distance information based on detection data detected by a larynx portion displacement detector, and a two-dimensional trajectory data indicating behavior trajectories of an up-down direction and a front-back direction of the thyroid cartilage is generated based on the extracted up-down motion component and the extracted front-back motion component.

A method for monitoring feeding maturation in premature babies, the method including measuring an acoustic response from a baby during a selected time period to provide acoustic information; comparing the measured acoustic response against a train data set to determine an indication of a swallow event; and measuring a respiration pattern of the baby during a swallow cycle using a peak and valley model to provide respiration data, where a feeding maturity of the baby is determinable in dependence on the swallow indication and respiration data.

A device and method for verifying the proper position of catheters in the body by means of acoustic reflectometry, the device including a sound source, one or more sound receivers, a tube with compliant walls and open distal end to be introduced through an entrance to a body cavity, the sound source and receiver(s) coupled to the proximal end of the tube, a processor for causing the sound source to generate an acoustic excitation signal, the processor processing the acoustic signals sensed by the sound receiver(s) and generating an approximation of the acoustic impulse response of the tube, and the processor analyzing the acoustic impulse response to determine the position of the tube in the body cavity.

A method, a system and a program product for evaluating an intestinal function using bowel sounds are disclosed. The method comprises the following steps: A. continuously monitoring an abdominal cavity of an examinee within a specific time by using an audio collection apparatus, collecting a bowel sound signal of an intestinal tract inside the abdominal cavity, and converting the bowel sound signal into a digital signal; B. using higher-order statistics (HOS), by a processing unit, to remove noise from the digital signal; C. using a fractal dimension algorithm, by the processing unit, to capture a high-complexity feature from the digital signal, and defining the high-complexity feature as an intestinal motility signal, and D. evaluating the intestinal function of the examinee, by the processing unit, according to the intestinal motility signal.