The United States research workers have developed a glue sensor which can stick to a tooth that could examine the salt, glucose, and also alcohol use and even send out the data to your smartphone. Last year, in his predictions of the five innovations that will change our lives in the next five years, IBM mentioned the development of labs on a chip capable of analyzing bioparticles in saliva, tears, blood, blood urine or sweat. The innovation brought by a team from Tufts University (USA) is not yet at this level of sophistication, but it goes in that direction.

It is a miniature adhesive sensor that sticks on a tooth to track glucose, salt and alcohol consumption. The information transmitted in the form of radio waves can be collected using a smartphone. This is the principle of the RFID electronic tag.

A Bioreactive Material

The sensor, which measures 2 x 2 mm, is composed of three layers: a bioreactive material that absorbs the nutrient and other chemicals, and two gold rims. The whole acts as an antenna. While the sensor obtains radio waves released by your smartphone, it will restore them with an alteration dependent on the number of chemical possessions.

If, for example, the material responds to the frequency or perhaps the rate of salt, it is going to adjust radio waves in just a precise manner by indeed varying their concentration or strength, in the manner of a sensor that changes color to provide information! A precise mobile app could then decide the kind of stuff as well as its amount. These research workers think that they can adjust the gadget to sense some other substances as well as adapt it as to work well particularly on the skin.

A Smart Tooth To Eat Better Soon

In the not-so-distant future, your dentist may know if you have abused sweets, or if you have not brushed your teeth properly, thanks to a clever tooth. It already exists in the form of a prototype designed by researchers from the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering of the University of Taiwan. They have developed a dental implant with an accelerometer and a data transmission system, which are then analyzed for categorization.

Tested on eight volunteers, the intelligent tooth manages to detect four oral activities with a success rate of 93.8percent: when a person eats, drinks and coughs or chews a chewing gum. This sensor could be used to monitor our oral activity, these researchers, told us.

The prototype is at the moment rather rudimentary. The sensor was poured into the dental resin and connected by micro cables to a receiver and power supply. But scientists say that from the perspective of consumer use, they are working on a new version incorporating a Bluetooth wireless transmitter.

Each individual having a specific dental configuration, it was necessary to parameterize the accelerometer individually using the Rodrigues rotation vector formula. Thus, each sensor has its own rotation matrix to be able to transpose the data by reducing the level of error that can cause the position of the implant.

The Smartphone As A Dietetic Coach

According to an expert, it is possible to use other types of sensors to improve the accuracy of the analysis. With a microphone, we could record the sound produced by chewing to determine the type of food. With a camera or a simple photosensor, we could determine the color of the food.

The data collected could be used as a basis for applications in the field of research, nutrition, and health. But scientists at the University of Taiwan are also considering mainstream use. It would be possible to create relevant mobile applications by combining data from a dental sensor with contextual information.

One can, for example, imagine a dietary application that follows when, where, and how fast or frequency a person feeds. In the same way, a doctor or a dietician would follow the food hygiene of his patient by receiving the information sent by his smartphone.

Safety, A Crucial Issue For The Smart Tooth

On paper, the idea seduces. But it raises several issues, starting with the question of security. What about radio wave radiation, module heating or accidental ingestion? The safety aspect is crucial and it is our main challenge on which we collaborate with medical experts, says Hao-Hua Chu.

Lastly, the electronic module must be sealed carefully so that it does not cause a health problem if it is inadvertently swallowed. Regarding radiation, we use Bluetooth 4.0 low energy which is considered safe. But it will anyway, go through extended clinical trials a lot more. It will interest you see this stuff yourself.