JAPAN: HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY EXHIBITION IN TOKYO, NIPRO CORPORATIONS DEVELOPS GADGET TO MEASURE STRESS LEVELS USING SALIVA.
Record ID:
861979
JAPAN: HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY EXHIBITION IN TOKYO, NIPRO CORPORATIONS DEVELOPS GADGET TO MEASURE STRESS LEVELS USING SALIVA.
- Title: JAPAN: HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY EXHIBITION IN TOKYO, NIPRO CORPORATIONS DEVELOPS GADGET TO MEASURE STRESS LEVELS USING SALIVA.
- Date: 16th March 2005
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) GV: TOKYO STREETS. WS: PEOPLE ON THEIR WAY TO WORK.
- Embargoed: 31st March 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City:
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Health,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA8LD9BX79191PFIVFL58B11666
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: A Japanese firm develops a gadget to measure stress levels using saliva.
What do a Japanese businessman, a housewife in Hong Kong and a U.S. Marine in Iraq have in common? All suffer from some sort of stress, be it pressure to increase business deals, look after small children or live with the fear of violence at every turn.
Japanese medical equipment manufacturer Nipro Corporation hopes to help these and other stressed people around the world with the creation of the "Cocoro Meter", a portable gadget which measures stress levels using saliva.
"Stress levels are usually measured by checking levels of various hormones in people's bodies. If you want to be accurate, you had to take blood samples and in many cases, this in itself was a often an even more stressful process.
This device enables you to measure stress using saliva, which contains hormones and what's more, it is painless and can be done anywhere. We believe such a product is the first of its kind in the world," said Hiroshi Yoshida, general manager of Nipro's research and development laboratory.
The enzyme amylase is a barometer for stress -- larger the stress, the more amylase appears in blood and saliva.
The stress check is done by placing the tip of the sensor chip into the person's mouth. The saliva sample collected on the chip is then put into the machine until the analyzing process is finished and a reading appears on the monitor on the face of the gadget.
The ratings range between ten, the lowest, and 150, the maximum level possible.
"I tried it four times and finally got a reading and it confirms that my daily life is stressful," said Tatsuhiro Tanaka, a food company executive who tried the stress measure at a healthcare industry exhibition in Tokyo.
Company executives thought the gadget could be useful in making better business decisions.
"In some cases, it is better for the company if the employee doesn't make an immediate, stupid decision and instead waits until his thoughts are clear and then presents his idea, so stress is a very important factor to be reckoned with and ways to measure it have been limited so this device could be useful," added Takanobu Hagiwara, another company executive.
Sales of the "Cocoro" or "Heart" meter are due to start this autumn in Japan and will be priced at around 100 U.S. dollars, but the battery-powered gadget will not include instructions on how to reduce stress. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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