Researchers at UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science say their new necklace will change the way we track our diets (both food and drink intake). Furthermore, it could even come in handy to combat issues such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
The device, called WearSens, can distinguish the difference between solids and liquids with an accuracy rate of 87 percent. It can also differentiate hot drinks from room-temperature drinks (90 percent accuracy) and food items that have varying textures (80 percent accuracy). The researchers say these accuracy rates will get better once the user calibrates their device.
“Today, many people try to track their food intake with journals, but this is often not effective or convenient,” Majid Sarrafzadeh, the UCLA professor who led the research team, said in a statement. “This technology allows individuals and health care professionals to monitor intake with greater accuracy and more immediacy.”
How the WearSens works
The device sits just above the sternum. It utilizes extremely sensitive piezoelectric sensors – which are also used in medical and aerospace instrumentation – to capture vibrations caused by swallowing. The piezoelectric sensors then create voltage based on the pressure (or mechanical stress) that they receive.
Eating and drinking causes muscle motion from the lower trachea, which in turn sets off the sensors. The necklace then transmits these signals to a smartphone, where a UCLA-developed algorithm is tasked with converting those signals into data the user can understand. Information available to the user includes data on the volume of food and liquid consumed, in addition to analysis. For example, the app might suggest that the user should be drinking more water.
Integrating a spectrogram to translate information
The WearSens uses a spectrogram (a visual representation of a sound or series of sounds) to translate the sensor information. Spectrograms are typically used in fields such as radar, speech therapy and sonar.
“The breakthroughs are in the design of the necklace, which is simple and does not interfere with daily activity, and in identifying statistical measures that distinguish food intake based on spectrogram images generated from piezoelectric sensor signals,” added co-inventor and graduate student researcher Nabil Alshurafa.
Potential release date for the WearSens
The research was recently published online in the IEEE Sensors Journal. Haik Kalantarian, Shruti Sarin, Behnam Shahbazi, Jason Liu and Mohammad Pourhomayoun round out the research team.
The group is currently working to refine and algorithm, along with the necklace itself. They hope their device will be on the market later this year. The tecgnology used by the device is available for licensing through the UCLA Office of Intellectual Property and Industry-Sponsored Research.