GE Microwave Also Counts Calories

Jul-12-14 A prototype device from GE able to measure the calories in food and send the information to a smartphone could one day make it much easier for people to keep track of their calorie count.

Currently, the device will work only with blended food, since it needs a homogeneous mixture for analysis. To gather the calorie info, the device sends low-energy microwaves through a measured portion of the food and then analyzes how the microwaves are changed by the fat and water content. The process delivers accuracy similar to that of the more destructive bomb calorimeter process, which burns the food to determine the calorie content.

The team's next step is to create a way to allow the food to be analyzed without needing it to be blended. This can be achieved by building microwave antennas that emit a more uniform distribution of microwaves and using them in conjunction with algorithms to obtain an average, or by a progressive scanning technique. Once this is possible, the device could be installed in a conventional microwave.

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