A new product that has been developed by scientists in Taiwan is designed to recognise when the wearer has eaten too much; the creators of the tooth sensor have said that it will ‘recognise human oral activities, such as chewing, drinking, speaking, and coughing.’ The most important aspect of the product is the accelerometer, which can distinguish between the separate movements and identify what is going on in the mouth at an accuracy of 94%.
The sensor is designed to replace a tooth that has been lost and the scientists say that this ‘has the advantage of being in proximity to where oral activities actually occur’, which contributes to its efficiency. Once the sensor has identified what oral action is taking place, this information can be correlated to suggest ways in which the wearer can improve their lifestyle to become healthier.
Although the technology is only at the prototype stage, researchers are already considering improvements that could pass the information wirelessly to a smart phone via Bluetooth, and they are also hoping to reduce the size of the sensor so that it could be fitted into a tooth cavity, therefore it would not need to replace the entire tooth structure. One of the team commented that ‘because the mouth is an opening into human health, this oral sensory system has the potential to enhance existing oral-related healthcare monitoring applications such as dietary tracking.’