Tooth-mounted sensors track what you eat

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - You may soon be able to monitor everything you eat in real-time, digitally through a tooth-mounted sensor.  New miniaturized sensors were developed by researchers at the Tufts University School of Engineering.

The small device, made of three layers, would track everything you consume, including glucose, salt and alcohol.  It would then transmit the data wirelessly to a mobile device.

A study set to be published in the journal Advanced Materials explores how the sensors could work in the future.  Researchers they the devices may eventually be able to detect a wider range of nutrients, chemicals and physiological states.

"In theory we can modify the bioresponsive layer in these sensors to target other chemicals – we are really limited only by our creativity," said Tufts professor Fiorenzo Omenetto, Ph.D., one of the authors of the study.

The researchers say previous wearable devices for monitoring dietary intake suffered from limitations such as requiring the use of a mouth guard, bulky wiring, or necessitating frequent replacement as the sensors rapidly degraded.