Urify: the toilet cleaner that detects early signs of disease
Designed by Yidan Xu, Urify is an innovative toilet cleaning tablet that doubles as a screening system for the early detection of kidney disease.
In recent years, design applied to medicine has increasingly demonstrated how collaboration between these fields can help create new products and tools or improve their usability or lifecycle. One example of this approach is Urify, which combines a toilet hygiene product with an accessible way to support earlier awareness of kidney health risk, inventing a new solution that addresses several critical issues.
Student Yidan Xu’s project, which earned her a spot as a global finalist in the Top 20 of the James Dyson Award, reimagines how people stay aware of their kidney health to offer a domestic solution aimed at reaching those who do not typically seek active medical monitoring. The designer developed her research with the help of Imperial College’s Advanced Hackspace and in collaboration with the London Kidney Network.
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Urify:
The story behind Urify: a tool for accessible health monitoring
Urify was conceived two years ago following a personal experience: “My father was diagnosed with stage 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD) when the damage was already irreversible. For years, he had shown signs such as proteinuria, but he continued to feel healthy: by the time of diagnosis, his kidney function had already declined by about 50%. He had therefore never felt it necessary to undergo specific checkups.”
Currently, there are no early-screening tools that are truly accessible to the general public, and this fact, combined with his father’s diagnosis, led Xu to understand why CKD often goes undetected until its advanced stages, resulting in increased costs and treatment complexity. This is where the idea for Urify came from: it is a toilet cleaning tablet that, through interaction with urine, also encourages people to check their kidney health earlier. With each flush, it releases a reagent capable of detecting urinary albumin, one of the best early indicators of kidney damage.
A system as simple as a toilet cleaning tablet
The system consists of two components: the tablet and the Color Visual Assistant. The first functions like a standard product, it is attached under the rim of the toilet and releases a floating foam with every flush. When urine comes into contact with the foam, elevated levels of urinary albumin cause a visible color change from light yellow to blue. Even in the absence of symptoms, this signal alerts the user to the possible presence of kidney abnormalities and encourages them to consult a healthcare professional. The product is designed to be used once or twice a year, and each tablet lasts 3–5 days.
A complex research process shaped through collaboration
The development process took six months and combined technological experimentation with user research, expert consultation, and chemical testing: from the outset, Xu realized that it was necessary to provide people with a solution that could integrate into their existing routines, thereby making it easier to use and encouraging its adoption. Thanks to a collaboration with the London Kidney Network and GP Experts, the designer discovered that urinary albumin levels can vary daily – a single test might not detect important signals. This observation led to the redesign of it as a monitoring system spanning multiple days.
Chemical validation, on the other hand, was achieved through material testing and visual perception studies conducted at Imperial College’s Advanced Hackspace. The continuous release of the reagent over several days helps reduce the risk of false results, while the color wheel and computer vision-assisted interpretation help limit potential misinterpretations.
Unlike traditional diagnostic tools, such as urine test strips, smart toilets, or wearable sensors, Urify requires no additional costs, behavioral changes, or active user involvement. It is designed to reach a very large number of people and make prevention more accessible through a common hygiene product.
The future of Urify
Urify is now developing, from a new toilet hanging prototype to a better-functioning MVP, and is actively looking for an experienced product engineer and specialists to help take the design to a real product.
The project is currently in the patent application phase. The next step will be to collaborate with research institutions to further explore the chemical and clinical aspects and to seek out industrial and commercial partners capable of supporting development and distribution.
The ultimate goal is to bring it into homes as a simple product for daily hygiene, capable of enabling early screening in a discreet and accessible way, making health monitoring as simple and natural as flushing the toilet.
