National Taiwan University in Taipei have invented a small sensor to be placed in the tooth, which can help doctors in monitoring patients’ eating habits and progress of their dental health.
The sensor has an accelerometer which along with a software can not only find out but also differentiate between various mouth activities such as smoking, chewing, speaking or coughing. The sensor also comes equipped with wires to connect to a source of power and features a device for logging of data, reports the New Scientist.
The researchers fixed the prototype of the device on eight people to find out if it can exactly recognize what the patient does most of the time.
Researchers expect to power the sensor with a micro-battery and incoporate the facility to transfer data without the use of wires through bluetooth to a smartphone.
Moreover, they expect to place the sensor inside artificial teeth too. Once these additions are done and the safety concerns are addressed, the researchers plan to seek regulatory approval.
