Environmental Sensors
ASSIST is developing novel e-nose technologies that enable sensing of environmental gases for a variety of applications including respiratory health, breath monitoring, smart homes and cities, and extreme environments.
These technologies address challenges inherent in traditional gas sensing approaches by developing solutions that provide: low power consumption, selectivity and specificity to differentiate among multiple analytes, ability to detect concentrations present in standard environments, integration into wearable/portable platforms.
Two fundamental technologies are being explored towards the detection of environmental exposures. Chemical sensor arrays based on Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (CMUTs) are being developed for the detection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). The Center is also driving the development of an E-Nose design based on nano-layered Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) stacks. This approach integrates arrays of MEMS Gas Sensors on a single substrate, with room temperature operation and <200uW power consumption. Both of these technologies have been integrated seamlessly with ASSIST’s Wearable System for Asthma Monitoring.