American engineers design a wearable oral sensor to monitor salt intake

WASHINGTON, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a flexible and stretchable wireless sensing system designed to be comfortably worn in the mouth to measure the amount of salt a person consumes.

A study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported the sensor based on an ultrathin, breathable elastomeric membrane.

The sensor integrates with a miniaturized flexible electronic system that uses Bluetooth technology to wirelessly report the sodium consumption to a smartphone or tablet.

"We can unobtrusively and wirelessly measure the amount of sodium that people are taking in over time," said Yeo Woon-Hong, assistant professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

"By monitoring sodium in real-time, the device could one day help people who need to restrict sodium intake learn to change their eating habits and diet," said Yeo.

For people who have hypertension and certain other conditions, eating too much salt raises blood pressure and increases the likelihood of heart complications, according to researchers.

The device has been tested in three adult study participants who wore the sensor system for up to a week while eating both solid and liquid foods including vegetable juice, chicken soup and potato chips.

Key to development of the intraoral sensor was replacement of traditional plastic and metal-based electronics with biocompatible and ultrathin components connected using mesh circuitry, according to Yeo's team.

Sodium sensors are available commercially, but Yeo and his collaborators developed a flexible micro-membrane version to be integrated with the miniaturized hybrid circuitry.

The device can monitor sodium intake in real-time, and record daily amounts.

"The sensor is comfortable to wear, and data from it can be transmitted to a smartphone or tablet," said Yeo.

The researchers are now working to further miniaturize the system, which now resembles a dental retainer, to the size of a tooth.

Also, the researchers would like to do away with the small battery, which must be recharged daily to keep the sensor in operation.

One option would be to power the device inductively, which would replace the battery and complex circuit with a coil that could obtain power from a transmitter outside the mouth. Enditem