Fluorescent Electronic Nose Finds Environmental Exposure

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been implicated in degradation of human physiological systems and in the etiology of disease. At present, monitoring breath-based biomarkers of exposure to VOCs requires specialized instrumentation such as gas chromatography with mass spectroscopy or photoionization detection. Recent developments in the application of "electronic nose" systems have been limited by part-per-million levels of detection. There is a need to develop low-cost, portable, array sensors capable of rapid detection of breath components at low part-per-billion (ppb) concentrations. To meet this need, American Research Corporation of Virginia suggests the development of a confocal array fluorimeter-based chemical sensor for use with chemometric calibration and analysis. The proposal is innovative based on the combination of a sensitive miniaturized photodiode array with selective fluorophore-polymer panels to enable rapid, sensitive detection of VOC biomarkers. Specific Aims of the program include evaluation of fluorescent membrane compositions suitable for detection of breath biomarkers, modification of a confocal fluorimeter for multiple channel detection, acquisition of families of test data from simulated breath exhalant and optimization of an engineering model for the Phase II integrated sensor. The program is significant in providing a customizable, rugged and lower cost analytical instrument that is sensitive to breath biomarkers associated with exposure to volatile organic compounds. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Successful completion of the Phase I program will result in a miniaturized fluorescent array detector to monitor the presence of volatile organic compounds in human breath. The chemical detector will find commercial use as an "electronic nose" for use in environmental chemical analysis and in food processing industries.