Ultrafine Particulate Monitor for Personal Exposure Assessment

Exposure to particulate air pollutants is associated with cardiovascular diseaseasthmalung cancerand other illnessesIn the United States the CDC estimates that asthma costs $billion annually in medical carelost work daysand early deathsHoweverdue to the complexity of the environmental exposure mechanismsthere remains a degree of uncertainty concerning disease etiologyWearable and highly sensitive particulate sensors could help further elucidate the linkages between disease and particulate exposureIn this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project Aerodyne Microsystems IncAMIwill investigate the feasibility of a miniaturizedbattery poweredand inexpensive sensor for real time monitoring of exposure to airborne particulate matterPMfromum to ultrafineThe system employs the thermophoretic deposition of particulates from a sample stream onto a thin film bulk acoustic wave resonatorFBARand determines the PM mass deposited by measuring the frequency shift of oscillationIncorporation of micromachined electromechanical systemMEMStechnologies allows unprecedented reduction in power consumptioncostsample flow rateand sizeThe research plan is to develop and experimentally demonstrate a new method for generation of air flow in the devicedemonstrate sensor operation across a wide range of harshreal world operating conditionsand realize a new technique for aerosol sampling and handling that improves the sensor level of detectionThe successful outcome of the project would culminate in a low cost analytical instrument that provides real time mass concentration of particles in a compactwearable form factorThe monitor would be suitable for quantification of personal exposure to a range of environmental pollutants such as automotive exhaustwood smokeand nanoparticlesOther markets for the instrument include ventilation controlindustrial hygienepower plant monitoringpharmaceutical powder processingmonitoring in aircraft and automobilesand consumer air quality monitoringTheworldwide addressable market for the technology is over $million per year This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project contributes to public health by enabling a highly sensitivewearableand low cost PM mass monitor for epidemiological studies of aerosol exposureThe monitor enables dense temporal and spatial networked measurements of air quality as well as personal exposure monitoringThe proposed technology has important societal impact by enabling widespread monitoring of airborne PM in the environmenthomeand workplaceand by reducing the cost of collecting airborne PM pollution data