In an effort to make weight loss programs more portable and convenient, several companies have recently developed some neat new hi tech tools and diet aids.

In recent months, several services have sprung up that let people use their cell phones or other gadgets to design exercise schedules, decide which menu items at a restaurant are compatible with their diet plans, and even use their camera-equipped cell phones to send snapshots of their meals to a dietitian (RD) for review.

One of the most unusual services is called MyFoodPhone, form Quebec City-based NATS Inc. Customers use any camera-equipped cell phone to send snapshots of their meals to a website and receive diet advice from a registered dietitian on how to modify eating habits to reach weight or health goals. The service doesn't come cheap: a monthly subscription costs $149. The theory is that with a traditional food journal, even people with the best of intentions can underestimate their portion sizes.

Hudson, MA-based Skyscape Inc., which sells software that lets physicians and nurses download medical references to their PDAs, is targeting dieters with a $19.95 per year service called the South Beach Diet OnHand, developed in conjunction with Waterfront Media. After downloading Skyscape's software to a hand-held device or cell phone, users can look up diet recipes by searching for an ingredient while they're in the grocery store, or find out what to order in a restaurant. 

Another hi-tech diet tool is the PDA-based service from WeightWatchers.com called Weight Watchers On-The-Go. This  is free for people who attend weight loss program meetings and pay a $12.95 monthly subscription to the website, which contains diet information. Those who don't attend meetings pay $21.95 per month for access to the site and the On-The-Go service.

Can other diet companies like LA Weight Loss, Jenny Craig, Medifast and others be far behind?

Some nutrition experts warn that dieters or exercise buffs shouldn't rely too much on gadgetry to stay in shape. The success of a diet plan or workout regimen depends on the individual, not the technology, says Susan Kleiner, a nutritionist in Mercer Island, WA (and co-developer of the BestDietForMe.com online survey). "It doesn't matter what kind of fancy gadget you've got to tell you how to exercise,  she says, you still have to go out and exercise. In the end, the onus is on you."

Sport watches

First designed as sports watches, these high-tech gadgets from Garmin, Timex, Nike, and Polar have become all the rage, especially among growing numbers of triathletes. The devices, which sell for $300 to $370, tell how many beats per minute your heart pumps (via a chest strap) and the number of calories burned. They measure how fast and how far you run, bike, and, in some cases, swim.

You can download data to your PC for an intensive analysis, complete with color-coded graphs and bar charts.

People who tend to exercise indoors might prefer the Polar, for instance, because the technology does not require beaming up to a satellite.

Walking to stay fit? Pedometers help. the new models do more than count steps. SportBrain's iXStep series and Walkstyles' DashTrak, both worn at the waist, measure calories burned, distance traveled, and heartbeats per minute. And they connect to your PC to upload the data to a website for online analysis.

DashTrak ($129.00,walkstyles.com) has a slim design and can be worn under a dress. For questions, DashTrak provides live customer service representatives. SportBrain ($49.95, sportbrain.com) relies on email - and answers take up to 48 hours.

New Medical Devices In Development

According to the Wall Street Journal, a new wave of inplantable stomach devices could transform the way doctors approach obesity. A number of companies are racing to develop implants that zap the stomach or certain nerves with an electrical current, much the way a cardiac pacemaker zaps the heart. The hope is that the electric jolt can help modify eating behavior, possibly by regulating appetite signals or boosting metabolism.

One such device, known as the Transcend II gastric stimulator, is already available in Europe and is in clinical trials in the U.S.. 

The new gadgets are aimed at severely obese people. The devices, which can be implanted using minimally invasive surgical techniques, will one day provide a less risky and less costly alternative to bariatric (gastric bypass) surgery (typical $25,000 cost per surgery)..

Medtronic, one of the world's largest medical device makers, is ushering the device through the FDA's approval process, with an eye toward making it available in the U.S. by 2007. 

Research could ultimately help get health insurance to pay for the device as a diabetes treatment, because insurers sometimes won't cover treatments for obesity alone.

Implanting small gastric devices may mean fewer complications than major weight loss surgery. And, unlike most forms of bariatric surgery, the implants are reversible.

Medtronic estimates that the treatments could cost between $15,000 and $20,000, including the device,  surgery and the hospital stay.

Right now, it's too early to know just how effective the new electrical implants will be for weight loss. Doctors involved in preliminary studies, conducted over the past decade at Italian centers and at Tufts-New England Medical Center, estimate this new weight loss gadget will help only one-third to one-half of obese patients.

Another downside with Transcend is that the battery lasts only 3-5 years, so patients would need a new round of surgery every few years to get the device replaced.

With promising new diet drugs on the horizon, some doctors say weight loss patients could use the implant to keep their weight under control until the new drugs arrive.    

Will this new device take the daily drudgery out of most commercial or medical weight loss programs, providing an "automatic" way to regulate one's appetite? Only time and clinical trials will tell. But, chances are, it won't replace eating a healthy diet and it won't be applicable for ALL overweight persons.