Don鈥檛 tell the dentist, but electrical engineers want to give sweets to children to check how children chew. A team has used Haribo gummy bears to build a cheap medical device to measure the pressure exerted by teeth and it could help measure signs of child development.
Donghyun Lee and Beelee Chua, who created the device at Korea University in Seoul, believe the idea will catch on because the child gets to eat the gummy bear afterwards.
鈥淐onventional medical devices often taunt children and some adults with fear with their metallic weirdly shaped appearances,鈥� says Lee. Familiar materials should help. 鈥淓specially knowing there is a sweet treat at the end,鈥� he says.
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The device is designed to be recyclable, with the gummy bear held between bamboo cantilevers wrapped in conducting aluminium foil. It鈥檚 name is聽a mouthful too: a gnathodynamometer.
The duo tested the gnathodynamometer with three adults, asking them to bite down for five seconds. The results showed a predictable change in voltage, which though imperceptible to the chewer could be recorded and monitored via two wires connected to the device. This happens because when the sweets are squeezed, their conductivity changes.
鈥淐hildren鈥檚 masticatory function is an important indicator of their developmental stage,鈥� says Lee. Although the device is still in its early stages, it could be used to measure how hard children can bite down to check on how well they have learned to chew, which is important for proper muscle growth around the jaw.
This isn鈥檛 the first time that scientists have investigated the possible electrical applications of a gummy bear. A team in Germany last year printed electrical circuitry onto the sweets as a way to test diagnostic devices made from softer materials.
Parents take note: the inventors point out the standard gummy bear used in their gnathodynamometer trials could be replaced with the multi-vitamin variety.
Sensors and Actuators A: Physical Volume
