As an active, research oriented company, Sensific is looking for technology or market opportunities and/or co-development partners where our micro-sensor technology will add value. Due to the selectivity and sensitivity of the Sensific membrane technology, a sensor may be tailor made for any application. If you have a sensing requirement that is currently not being met or is inadequate for your needs feel free to contact us to investigate the possibility of a custom design membrane and sensor system. Our current and expected future research projects are described below.
Current Research Projects:
 Cl Sensor:
In March '06, Sensific entered into a partnership with a multi-national Water Quality Instrumentation company to co-develop a solid state Chlorine sensor for the municipal water quality industry. Preliminary, proof of concept design and testing was successfully completed in 2005 and Sensific and its partner are currently developing the sensor for market introduction in early 2008.
Future Research Projects:
Electrochemical ELISA Micro-sensor
ELISA (Enzyme-linked Immunosorbant Assay) is a common technique to determine the concentrations of protein factors such as insulin, prostate specific antigen (PSA) or lutenizing hormone (pregnancy test). Such tests rely on producing a colored dye; the intensity of the color is proportional to amount of protein in the sample. Developing a sufficient color density to detect requires either a high sample concentration or a long delay while the color slowly builds.
Sensific's proprietary membrane technology offers an alternative means to detect protein binding using electrochemical detection in place of colorimetric detection. The sensitivity of electrochemical detection is significantly higher, and the instrumental complexity is significantly lower, than an equivalent colorimetric detection. The sensor can be formed using specific antibodies already developed for use in colorimetric systems; all that changes is the sensitivity of the analysis and the corresponding increase in throughput. Competing approaches to electrochemical ELISA have relied upon protein directly attached to the sensing electrodes. In the Sensific approach, the protein is immobilized in exactly the same way as is now done in ELISA; sample preparation and handling protocols will be very similar to current practice. This will ensure a rapid development path for the technology, and should lead to facile market acceptance.
Sensific's membrane technology can be incorporated into a wide variety of substrates and devices. It can be merged into the base of a multi-well plate for concurrent readout of the wells (high throughput). It can be incorporated into planar substrates similar to microscope slides which would be suited for point-of-care readout (plug and play). It can be bundled as a "smart" card that would contain the sensor with suitable electronics and power to produce a yes/no display output for rapid use in field applications (point and shoot). It is amenable for use as an in-stream detector in a microfluidics lab-on-a-chip. All of these potential formats rely on screen, stencil, and thick-film fabrication techniques that lead to low unit costs. The sensors can be shipped in sterile sealed foil-packs suitable for immediate use.
Homeland Security or Hazard Sensor
The spectrum of potential threats is vast and first-responders face a huge number of unknowns as they attempt to respond in an emergency. In a similar vein, security screening personnel face an equally vast range of potential threats hidden in a large population of bystanders. Both require rapid yes/no diagnostic tools to assist in triage for more in-depth evaluation using more sophisticated tools in the hands of specialists.
Sensific's membrane technologies can be adapted to detect, singly or in groups, a wide number of specific chemical agents and byproducts. Examples include perchlorate and nitrate on surface swabs as markers for explosives, and fluoride and cyanide as byproducts of nerve agents or poisons in their own right. These chemical agents would be detected potentiometrically. Alternatively, Sensific's proprietary membrane-relay technology could be adapted to detect oxidants such as acetone peroxide, Semtex, and other high-energy materials. A reactive gas sensor/dosimeter would also find field application in first-response applications (see reactive gas backgrounder).
Sensific's membrane technology can be incorporated into a wide variety of substrates and devices. It can be incorporated into planar substrates similar to microscope slides which would be suited for field readout (plug and play). It can be bundled as a "smart" card that would contain the sensor with suitable electronics and power to produce a yes/no display output for rapid use in field applications (point and shoot). All of these potential formats rely on screen, stencil, and thick-film fabrication techniques that lead to low unit costs. The sensors can be shipped in single-use foil-packs suitable for immediate use.
Reactive Gas Dosimeter
Current solid-state gas sensors rely on specific high-temperature electrocatalytic reactions of the gas of interest to produce a signal. Although this suited for non-reactive gases such as carbon monoxide, this strategy poses problems for reactive gas-air mixtures involving hydrogen, particularly near the explosion limit. Other reactive gases include hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, chlorine dioxide, chlorine, and ammonia. Each of these has a threshold toxicity near the odor threshold, and habituated workers frequently can no longer detect gases that are present in near toxic amounts in their workspace.
Sensific has a proprietary membrane relay technology that is used in the detection of reactive gases dissolved in water (chlorine, monochloramine, oxygen). The same principles could be adapted to the detection of reactive gases directly form air. In each case the gas would diffuse into the sensors and provoke a relay response that would be detected as current. The sensor would be constructed and held at a "tipping point" so that a small amount of the target gas would provoke a rapid and significant response in the sensor.
The fabrication of this type of sensor would follow from the technologies Sensific now uses to produce single-use sensors; screen, stencil, and thick-film fabrication techniques lead to low unit costs. The sensor could be bundled as a "smart" card that would contain the sensor with suitable electronics and power to produce a yes/no display output for rapid use in field applications (point and shoot). In-pipe and headspace applications are also possible using low-power, ambient temperature sensors to monitor gas levels. The "tipping point" principle leads directly to trigger and dosimeter applications suitable for personal warning devices or alarm triggers.
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