Podcast: Play in new window
BOB HIRSHON (host):
A tiny mouth monitor. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Anyone cheating on their low salt, low sugar, no alcohol diet is happy that teeth can’t talk– but soon, they might, thanks to a tooth-mounted biosensor tinier than a Tic Tac. In the journal Advanced Materials, Tufts biomedical engineer Fiorenzo Omenetto and his colleagues say the sensors could do more than just monitor your eating habits.
FIORENZO OMENETTO (Tufts University School of Engineering):
The mouth is an environment that is rich in information, both of physiological utility and perhaps health and lifestyle utility.
HIRSHON:
The sensor transmits data wirelessly to a nearby mobile device. Omenetto says it could eventually help researchers studying connections between diet and health, by allowing scientists to track chemical changes twenty-four hours a day. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.
Story by Bob Hirshon