Communications of the ACM
Scientific Gains May Make Electronic Nose the Next Everyday Device
Researchers at the Texas Analog Center of Excellence at the University of Texas at Dallas are working to develop an electronic nose.
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Researchers at the Texas Analog Center of Excellence (TxACE) at the University of Texas at Dallas are creating an electronic nose to collect and analyze chemicals present in human breath.
The device uses complementary metal-oxide semiconductor integrated circuits, modeled after the technology used to manufacture smartphones and tablets.
"We have demonstrated that you can build an affordable electronic nose that can sense many different kinds of smells," says TxACE researcher Navneet Sharma. "When you're smelling something, you are detecting chemical molecules in the air. Similarly, an electronic nose detects chemical compounds using rotational spectroscopy."
The rotational spectrometer generates electromagnetic waves and then analyzes how the waves react in the presence of certain chemicals.
The system can detect low concentrations of chemicals in human breath with greater sensitivity and accuracy than Breathalyzers. Researchers envision the device will be used in industrial and medical settings to diagnose abnormalities in the gastrointestinal tract and blood; if the devices become available to the public, TxACE director Kenneth O says diseases could be diagnosed earlier and the need for lab testing could be reduced. The team plans to start testing a prototype of a programmable electronic nose in early 2018.
From UT Dallas News Center
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