Radboudumc research on smart toilet seat wins Klokhuis Science Prize Prize for ‘A smart toilet seat that measures poop and farts’

Radboudumc-research ‘A smart toilet seat that measures poop and farts’ is the winner of the 9^th Klokhuis Science Prize. The winning project is from gastroenterologist Marjolijn Duijvestein and technical physician Lotte Hazeleger. Radboud university medical center works closely together with OnePlanet Research Center. An entire episode of Het Klokhuis will be made about the winning project.

Chosen by children

The Klokhuis Science Prize was announced on Sunday, March 16, during InScience by Klokhuis presenter Janouk Kelderman. Over 300 children had the opportunity to meet the scientists during the program ‘Meet the Researcher’ at the Mariënburg Library. The winner was chosen by children who voted on the research they found most interesting and relevant via the Het Klokhuis website. More than 8,000 votes were cast. Het Klokhuis will produce an episode about the winning research, which will premiere at the next edition of InScience in 2026.

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.

In this picture: Lotte Hazeleger with the smart toilet seat.

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. This research is done by Lotte Hazeleger and led by Marjolijn Duijvestein, who is in the Talent Track, the program of Radboudumc for excellent young researchers.  Additionally, research will be conducted next year on toilet behavior in a healthy population.

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.

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