In the United States, a toilet was invented to diagnose cholera by ear.

Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created a microphone sensor for a toilet that can distinguish between urination, defecation and diarrhea by sound to diagnose cholera. The device was presented at a meeting of the Acoustic Society of America. The sensor transmits the audio recording to the computer, and the algorithm converts the sound into a spectrogram. According to its features, neural networks classify the type of emptying and identify intestinal diseases. The device can be used in disaster areas, nursing homes and hospices. Cholera outbreaks claim 150,000 lives each year.