This article was taken from the September 2011 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Can a microchip do everything a sniffer dog can? Cambridge-based Owlstone Nanotech thinks so.
It has developed a sensor that detects almost any chemical, even in very low concentrations.
The devices measure 7.5mm by 7.5mm and cost only £3 each to make. Applications include dropping them into war zones to identify improvised explosive devices by their tell-tale chemical signatures, before troops go in.
The idea came after 9/11: "There was a big drive for better explosive-detection systems," says Billy Boyle, who cofounded the company in 2001 while still a nanotech researcher at Cambridge University. "Existing techniques were bulky, expensive and didn't perform well."
The new system is a silicon chip with two layers and an ionisation source. A detector filters the target molecules and identifies them by how quickly they move through an electrical field. The system can be programmed to detect almost any threat -airborne or dissolved.
Next up are medical diagnostics. "The chips can be integrated into a device that detects chemicals on the breath that signify disease," says Boyle. "We're very excited."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
