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You may think that microwaves are only used to cook speedy readymeals or defrost food at the last minute.

But one U.S. company has developed a version of the device that enables it to calculate the number of calories in a meal.

A prototype device by General Electric Global Research uses microwaves, which travel through food, to measure the fat and water content of dinner and consequently, its calorific content.

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A prototype device by General Electric uses microwaves, which travel through food, to measure the fat and water content of dinner and consequently, it's calorific content. A conceptual image of the as yet unnamed gadget is pictured

With obesity rates rising, there is huge demand for kitchen gadgets that make counting calories easier.

And while cutting-edge kitchen scales go some way to helping, U.S. firm General Electric believes there is an easier way.

Its unnamed calorie counter, developed in a laboratory in Niskayuna, New York,
can accurately reveal the calorific content of a plate of food at the push of a button – without ingredients or components of a meal having to be analysed separately.

The device emits microwaves and detects specific signatures of the food, based upon how the waves travel though it when they encounter fat and water molecules. A concept is pictured

The device emits microwaves and detects specific signatures of the food, based upon how the waves travel though it when they encounter fat and water molecules.

It does not emit enough waves to cook the food, however.

'You can do this because water and fat interact with microwaves very differently,' Matt Webster, the device's creator, told Digital Trends.

The prototype can estimate the calories in a meal using a unique equation that the team has developed over three years.

'The equation takes the fat, water content numbers and assumes values for the rest,' he said.

Mr Webster explained that the machine doesn't need to know the combination of proteins, carbohydrates and sugars as the equation takes care of it, although did not reveal how.

The machine is currently a prototype and looks like a piece of lab equipment.

Having tested it between 40 and 50 times, the scientists said that it is consistently within five to 10 per cent of the calories count, as determined by chemists using traditional methods.

The team hopes to transform the prototype into a dome-shaped consumer device, that will fit neatly over a plate of food.

There is currently no indication of when it might be available or how much it will cost.

SMART SCALES TELL YOU HOW MANY CALORIES ARE ON YOUR PLATE

If you can't wait for GE's wonder device, there are a number of smart scales that are on sale that claim to be able to count calories in homemade meals.

The Situ scales weighs food in calories and nutrients – as well as in grams and ounces – so you will be able to make a sandwich and know just how good it is for you instantly.

The battery-powered weighing scales has a Bluetooth chip inside it that talks to an iPad.

A piece of fruit, for example, can be placed on the Situ scales to show its nutritional information using the accompanying app.

Together with an app, the scale shows a food's calories, sugars, vitamins and fat content.

The app comprises four main screens one of which shows different categories of food that people can pick from when weighing an item. To tell the app what food is on the real scales, users can drag its icon onto the mini Situ on the iPad's screen.

The nutritional content and calories in a food is displayed on the screen and foods can be added to favourites so that it is easier to find next time.

The 'current plate' screen is used to track a whole meal and will show people the total nutritional content of everything that is being cooked or added to a plate.

To 'build' a meal, users will simply weigh each ingredient, zeroing the scales before adding another and choosing the relevant food on the app, so that they will get the big nutritional picture of what they are eating.

The inventors have raised all the moment they need on Kickstarter to put the £70 ($126) scales into production, which will be shipped in November.