By Prarthana Mitra
The global trend allowing one to track bodily processes and predict complications with the help of technology has surely come a long way since sleep trackers and FitBit. Researchers at Tufts University have announced the next big fitness wearable: a tooth sensor that enables you to track your food habits.
This 2mm x 2mm square sensor sticks to a person’s teeth and can transmit information about what is being chewed to a digital device such as a smartphone.
Nutrition monitoring to nutrition management
Fiorenzo Omenetto, the co-author of the study and professor of engineering at Tufts said in an interview with Alphr that interpreting the data provided by the sensor can ultimately lead to the identification of patterns of consumption that could have an impact on diet regimens, health management and maybe make us more aware of our nutritional intake.”
In addition to managing nutritional inputs, the sensor can also be used to monitor calorie and alcohol intake. Information regarding dental health and mental wellbeing like fatigue can also be gleaned from saliva sampling. Moreover, this flexible sensory device could possibly overcome the limitations of earlier prototypes and can even adapt to uneven teeth surfaces.
Mechanism and application
The sensor makes use of a bioresponsive film of polymer that absorbs the chemicals being detected inside the mouth. The film along with sensory antennae that transmits ambient radiofrequency signals (RFID) to wirelessly transfer collection information to a mobile device about what nutrients are being consumed.
The device is still in its hypothetical experimental phase and it is not certain if the sensor will be available for public use. Currently, the sensor can last for up to two days but further iterations can tweak the duration of activation and even be reworked to pick up other body chemicals and processes in the future.