Sewer sensors sniff out signs of
bombs and drugs
BOMB-MAKERS or chemists with
Breaking
Bad
crystal-meth labs better watch out.
A sewer system full of chemical sensors
could sniff out their homemade labs as
part of a €4.5 million European Union-
funded research programme called
Emphasis. The idea is that once a sewer sensor
finds telltale traces of home-brewed explosives, it sounds an alarm
and a police team carrying a portable, high-resolution sensing unit can
be dispatched to narrow the search and pinpoint the exact location.
The technique could also be modified to look for signs of illegal drug
factories. Emphasis is led by Hans Önnerud, an analytical chemist with
the Swedish Defence Research Agency in Kista, north of Stockholm.
New implantable sensor paves way to long-term
monitoring
Carbon nanotubes that detect nitric oxide can
be implanted under the skin for more than
a year. Such sensors could also be adapted
to detect other molecules, including glucose.
Professor Strano’s team at MIT is now working
on sensors that could be implanted under
the skin of diabetic patients to monitor their
glucose or insulin levels, eliminating the need to
take blood samples. The sensors take advantage of carbon nanotubes’
natural fluorescence, by coupling them to a molecule that binds to
a specific target.When the target is bound, the tubes’ fluorescence
brightens or dims.
Image: Dan Salisbury
Continued...
Sensor100 November News 2013
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Carbon nanotubes are
encapsulated within a
hydrogel
