Radboudumc research on smart toilet seat nominated for Klokhuis Science Prize Vote for Marjolijn Duijvestein and Lotte Hazeleger until March 16th

Gastroenterologist Marjolijn Duijvestein and technical physician Lotte Hazeleger from Radboud university medical center have been nominated for the Klokhuis Science Prize. Their research on the smart toilet seat is one of the ten nominees. Voting for this research is possible until Sunday, March 16th. The winner will be announced during InScience Film Festival, and an entire episode of Het Klokhuis will be made about the winning project. You can vote here.

Klokhuis nomination: A smart toilet seat that measures poop and farts

Did you know that a smart toilet seat exists? When you need to pee or poop, this toilet seat measures your health. Researchers use this toilet seat not only to learn more about diseases in your gut but also to assess how healthy you are. With this toilet seat, the researchers track how often you need to poop, how long you actually sit on the toilet seat, and whether you do anything else, like reading Donald Duck or looking at your phone. And is that last part actually smart? What would you want to discover with a smart toilet seat? 

Research by the Dutch fund for gastrointestinal diseases shows that half of the kids at primary school do not have the courage to poop at school. They might find the toilets too dirty or feel there's not enough privacy. But that's neither smart nor healthy. Talking openly about poop and pee is very important and helps break the taboo. 

Vote for the smart toilet seat here.

About the Smart Toilet Seat

The smart toilet seat was developed by OnePlanet Research Center, a collaboration between Radboudumc, Radboud University, WUR, and imec. This toilet seat can measure various parameters, such as heart rate and weight, during a toilet visit, and it can objectively map toilet behavior through chip sensors integrated into a regular toilet seat. The smart toilet seat is being studied in various groups, including patients with inflammatory bowel diseases and elderly people. Additionally, research will be conducted next year on toilet behavior in a healthy population.

Meet the Researcher

On Sunday, March 16th, you should be at the Mariënburg Library in Nijmegen. Aspiring researchers, young and not-so-young scientists, or anyone with burning questions and a healthy dose of curiosity is warmly invited to meet the researcher. Get to know the 10 nominated scientists for the Klokhuis Science Prize and discover all other activities. At 4pm, the winner of the Klokhuis Science Prize will be announced. 

About the Klokhuis Science Prize

The Klokhuis Science Prize aims to introduce scientific research in the Netherlands to a broad, young audience. The prize was first awarded in 2016. The Klokhuis Science Prize recognizes interesting and relevant scientific research for children aged 9 to 12. A Klokhuis episode will be dedicated to the winning research field. 

In 2023, Parkinson’s researchers Anouk Tosserams and Jorik Nonnekes from Radboudumc won with their research ‘Dad can’t walk, but he can hump’. You can watch the episode here.

• Want to know more about these subjects? Click on the buttons below for more news.

  News homepage news & media