HEALTH NEWS: Doctor's Job made easy as scientists develop 'Smart tooth' that can monitor a person's eating, drinking and smoking habit.

Doctors will agree to the fact that taking the 'History' of a patient could be a hard task especially if the patient is very cantankerous and garrulous( pardon me). Oh Yes!! Some patients can be sooo uncooperative leaving the Doctor with no choice, but to become 'a Detective'.. Well there is GOOD NEWS. Doctor, Your task difficulty level has been reduced well enough by this invention...

Scientists have developed a 'smart tooth' that works out how much time someone spends chewing, drinking, eating,coughing and smoking. They say it could be used by doctors to monitor respiratory problems or to check if dieters are telling the truth about why they can't lose weight. Dentists might also find the device, which looks like a normal tooth, useful.

The 'smart tooth' capitalises on the fact that activities from chewing to tooth-grinding, all lead to the jaw moving in different ways.

A computer programme can crunch the information and work out what someone is doing from what their mouth is doing. Key to the 'smart tooth' is a tiny motion sensor the size of a finger nail.

Eight volunteers had a sensor attached to their teeth, together with thin wires that were used to carry the information gathered out to a computer.

The men and women then coughed for half a minute, drank a bottle of water, chewed gum and read a story aloud.

When the computer programme was adjusted to take into account each person's quirks, it proved to be 94 per cent accurate in working out which of the activities they were doing(amazing).

The artificial tooth would be removed overnight, allowing it to be cleaned and the battery that powers it to be charged.
Other possibilities include miniaturising the sensor so that it fits snugly inside a cavity or crown( very cool).

The researchers acknowledge that safety is 'paramount' but say that if the device was somehow swallowed, it would pass harmlessly through the body.

They said: 'The human mouth is one part of the human body that is always in constant use. 'We use our mouth to perform some of the most important daily functions, such as eating, drinking, speaking, coughing, breathing and smoking. 'Because the mouth is an opening into human health, this oral sensory system has the potential to enhance existing healthcare monitoring applications such as dietary tracking.'

In other words, doctors could use the information to check if those who are struggling to lose weight are eating as little as they say and also help get information from their patients who are uncooperative.

Can't wait for the 'Smart tooth' to enter Naija... Everything going smart!! Now you have 'Smart tooth'.. Lol

Please leave your comments below and don't forget to share with your friends!!! Thanks...

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN