Aptamer-SPR technique and device for high sensitivity and high specificity of explosives detection (ASPRED)

A joint effort by several US military offices aims to create hand held platforms that will enable the real time detection and quantitation of a threat. Detection of explosives in the gas phase presents an extreme advantage for various homeland security applications and operations. However, direct detection of explosives in trace quantities in the air presents an extremely difficult problem due to potentially high aerial dilution of the vapors, unless the agent is collected from the air and concentrated in a liquid. To advance the state-of-the-art in in-air detection of explosives, Infoscitex Corporation (IST) proposes the development of a detection system based on an aptameric detection mechanism. Infoscitex will apply novel methods for isolation of aerially active aptamers in conjunction with ICX Technologies, Inc. to provide the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with a versatile, high affinity, highly reliable explosives sensor.