For the millions of Americans with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, navigating a restaurant menu for items free of gluten—a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye—is difficult enough. But even if the menu says a dish is “gluten-free,” trace amounts of gluten can still cause a serious reaction in many allergic individuals.

Soon, these consumers should be able to quickly assess whether their meal is safe to eat, thanks to a portable and highly sensitive gluten detector called Nima.

To use the device, diners put a small food sample into a disposable capsule, which mixes the food with a chemical solution that detects the presence of gluten. With the capsule inserted into the 3-inch, triangular-shaped Nima unit, a digital display indicates in just a couple of minutes whether or not the sample contains gluten.

According to the developers, Nima can detect gluten in concentrations as small as 20 parts per million (ppm), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s maximum allowable limit for foods labeled “gluten-free.” The chemistry behind Nima’s sensitivity involves custom antibodies highly sensitive to the gluten molecule. When gluten is present, the antibody bonds with it and causes a color change, detected by an optical reader. If the sample has less than 20 ppm of gluten, the device displays a smiley face.

Nima’s developers claim their gadget, available on preorder for $199, is sensitive enough to detect whether someone might have touched a piece of bread before handling “gluten-free” food.

“It’s the equivalent to finding a breadcrumb in an entire plate of food,” said Scott Sundvor, Nima’s chief product officer, according to MIT News.

Nima test results appear wirelessly on an integrated app, allowing the diner to record the name of the restaurant and whether the dish contained gluten. That info is logged on a website so any Nima user can see the results.

Although consumers are the company’s initial target market, Sundvor thinks restaurants will also be interested in the data. Already two restaurants in San Francisco are working with Nima to validate their gluten-free dishes.

The startup plans to release two more sensors next year, one to detect peanuts and one to detect dairy.

“A lot of people are getting sick from dairy allergies, so that will be a big market,” Sundvor said.

Armed and ready

The newest generation of prosthetic arm is expected to give amputees significantly improved levels of power, flexibility, and control. The LUKE arm (Life Under Kinetic Evolution), slated for launch by medical device maker Mobius Bionics in late 2016, translates signals from a patient’s muscles into complex motions.

The prosthetic was developed with help from the U.S. military’s DARPA agency, under a program whose goal was to “dramatically enhance independence and improve quality of life for amputees.” The program involved more than 10,000 hours of testing on nearly 100 amputees.

According to Mobius Bionics, the LUKE arm has a powered shoulder joint that can reach overhead or behind the back. The elbow is strong enough to lift a bag of groceries, and the wrist is flexible enough to hold a glass of water overhead or at waist level without spilling. The bionic hand contains four independent motors that allow the user to grip even delicate items such as an egg or a phone.

Mobius Bionics is now accepting applications from amputees interested in the device. —M.C.