NanoNose™ Software Tool (26146)

NanoNose™ is a software tool developed in LabView to enable rapid prototyping, test and evaluation of high-density sensor arrays. NanoNose™ characterizes sensors by exercising them through varied ambient conditions, concentration levels and flow rates. NanoNose™ is currently used for gases and gas mixtures, but can be expanded to include liquids and airborne substances. Some salient features of NanoNose™ are:

Simultaneous characterization of multiple sensors Real-time control and monitoring of ambient conditions – can be varied over a wide range Real-time detection: Sensor response to a test sequence together with local humidity and temperature can be monitored in real-time and exported to a spreadsheet for offline analysis Test setup diagnostics to ensure proper functioning of sensors and mass flow controllers User-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) NanoNose™ offers a variety of programmable settings that include sensor selection, method of sensor excitation, test gas selection, mixing/concentration levels and flow rate. Sensor array response is measured and recorded through software triggered array scanning with program control data transfer displayed in real-time. The entire process is initiated, controlled and terminated by software. One unique feature of NanoNose™ is that the software includes a test setup diagnostic.

NanoNose™ can also be used to perform accelerated testing to study sensor aging and stability under unfavorable conditions such as exposure to sufficiently high concentrations and extremely low/high humidity and ambient temperatures. NanoNose™can be applied to generate a chemical database as a sensor array is exposed to a variety of test chemicals. It can also be employed for real-time monitoring of toxic chemicals inside of buildings by interfacing signal processing and data analysis tools with sensor outputs for online analysis and recognition. NanoNose™ can be configured for advanced sensors, such as Northwestern’s BioChip Detection System. Application of NanoNose™ is described in Sensors & Actuators B: Chemical 117 (2006) 244-252. Some GUI’s are shown in the below figures.

STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT: In Sensors & Actuators B: Chemical 117 (2006) 244-252, the investigators applied NanoNose™ to characterize four types of sensors exposed to varied flow rates and concentrations of ethanol, ammonia, acetone, toluene and chloroform vapors. Operating temperatures varied from 200-500 oC. Sensor array data was recorded in real-time and stored in a spreadsheet for further off-line analysis.

NanoNose™ is provided with a user’s manual. Northwestern seeks licensing partners to use and/or commercialize this

Inventor(s): Vinayak Dravid, Arvind Srivastava

Type of Offer: Licensing



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