Kohler opens preorders for Dekoda toilet health sensor at $599

Kohler has begun taking preorders for Dekoda, a toilet-mounted health sensor that the company says can image and analyze stool and urine to provide users with gut health, hydration and blood-detection insights. The device is listed at about $599 and, according to Kohler, shipments are scheduled to begin October 21. Use of the device requires a Kohler Health membership, with single-user plans priced at $6.99 per month or $70 per year and family plans at $12.99 per month or $130 per year.

Dekoda is a small, clip-on unit that Kohler describes as containing optical sensors and spectroscopy hardware that point into the toilet bowl. Kohler says the system observes how light interacts with waste and then applies machine learning algorithms trained on clinical frameworks, including the Bristol Stool Chart and more than one million data points, to classify stool shape and consistency, estimate hydration and flag the presence of blood. Results are routed to the Kohler Health iPhone app, which displays session-by-session metrics such as stool type, frequency and a percentage-based gut health score that can be trended over time.

Kohler has incorporated several privacy and access controls in...