Electronic nose boasts "snoot full of sensory neurons"

It may be a sad state of affairs but, the fact is, it's tough for an electronic nose to stand out from the pack these days. This latest effort from some researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology looks to have quite a bit going for it, however, including a collection of eight different types of sensors and 16 "microheaters," which can be tweaked ever so slightly to effectively create 5,600 virtual sensors or, as the researchers helpfully describe, the "analytical equivalent of a snoot full of sensory neurons." That, the researchers say, could let the "nose" sniff out everything from nerve agents and environmental contaminants to trace indicators of disease -- assuming it ever gets out of the lab, that is, which is something the researchers aren't making any promises about just yet.

[Via MedGadget]

[Esat Dedezade @ Oct 31st 2008 3:44PM]

Just don't let it get near the white stuff.

All that research money would have been wasted....

On a more serious note research like this is pretty cool, although canines do a fine job this could sniff out pretty much anything, without expensive puppy training! I'm not sure how they are trained but I assume most dogs are trained to specifically sniff out only one item? (Drugs, explosives e.t.c.) Or can they detect more than one type of item?

[JB @ Nov 2nd 2008 1:34AM]

Sensors of this design can typically detect more than one compound. They work more on the basis of making "fingerprints" of the 8 different sensors in their various states, yielding unique combinations for whatever volatile they're being exposed to. This informational page at Alpha MOS illustrates a bit more how it works.

This technology has been around for at least half a decade if not longer (I was working on a similar project in '04), but not on this size scale. Previous tech was a large handheld unit, nothing like this micro-scale illustrated in the image.

[JB @ Nov 2nd 2008 1:35AM]

Damn, let's try that link again:

http://www.alpha-mos.com/technology/detection.html

[Osiris @ Nov 2nd 2008 3:22PM]

Great, so now the overzealous drug squad police will be able to enforce their nanny-state laws on safe drugs even more effectively.

[Naegling @ Oct 31st 2008 3:54PM]

We tried a dog... they kept suffocating in the compartment on our fire trucks...

Seriously though, this will be a huge help to us during hazardous materials incidents when we can quickly distinguish between chemicals.

[Matthew Hilario @ Oct 31st 2008 4:02PM]

susceptible to the cold virus.

[Matthew Hilario @ Oct 31st 2008 4:04PM]

gives another meaning to a running nose.

[Silverfrog @ Oct 31st 2008 4:26PM]

Good luck breaking into a bank vault that has these.

[El Taco @ Oct 31st 2008 8:17PM]

I hope it's shaped like eyeglasses-nose-and-moustache glasses

[MojoBaby @ Oct 31st 2008 8:21PM]

WooHoo, an independent way to see who's farts smell the worst... The next TV show for the Spike Network.

[Shunnabunich @ Oct 31st 2008 9:37PM]

Man, I remember when these used to be so cool, when they had that one in the Richie Rich movie...it almost saved them from that damn TNT...almost.

[Daimyo Nintendo @ Nov 2nd 2008 1:36PM]

pop that mafucka in a tricorder and lets get scanning!