Wearable Organic Electric Film RFID Sensors for Monitoring of Airborne Toxicants

描述（由申请人提供）：开发用于接触点的可穿戴传感器，对环境化学物质的暴露进行近实时监测，对于不同人群研究的成功至关重要。对这些传感器的需求是由对可穿戴传感器的尚未满足的需求驱动的，该可穿戴传感器以可忽略的功耗同时且选择性地测量多种分析物。在拟议的计划中，GE全球研究团队将通过开发一种新的传感平台来满足对可穿戴传感器的这些要求，该平台将大大降低准确监测空气中有毒物质（如挥发性有机化合物以及还原性和氧化性气体）的复杂性。拟议的传感器系统将采用一种新的传感方法，最近在GE全球研究开发，利用谐振天线结构的无源电感耦合射频识别（RFID）传感器与有机电子薄膜，将作为分析物传感涂层。这种新的传感方法将提供选择性定量的有毒挥发性物质与亚ppm的检测限存在的环境湿度的不受控制的变化。这种响应选择性将不通过这些传感器的阵列而是通过单个传感器来实现。这种能力将通过利用（1）有机电子聚合物使用同时作用的几种蒸气响应机制对气体进行分子识别，（2）传感器换能器的新设计以完全探测这些蒸气-聚合物相互作用，以及（3）谐振传感器天线结构的复阻抗响应的标准多变量分析来实现。开发的传感器将由火柴盒大小的可穿戴传感器读取器进行询问，该读取器将调查结果与本地基站进行远程传输。组建的研究团队在化学传感器设计、有机电子聚合物合成、低功率RF通信和多元信号处理方面具有重要的公认实践知识。这种专业知识将与关键的初步结果相结合，这将有助于拟议计划的成功。公共卫生相关性：可穿戴传感器以可忽略的功耗同时和选择性地测量多种分析物的未满足的需求是开发新传感概念的强大驱动力。在拟议的项目中，该团队将采用一种新型的传感方法，该方法利用无源电感耦合射频识别（RFID）传感器的谐振天线结构，有机电子薄膜将用作分析物传感涂层。这种新的传感方法将提供一种可穿戴的、具有成本效益的、选择性的传感器，用于检测有毒挥发性物质。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Development of wearable sensors for point-of-contact, near-real time monitoring of exposure to environmental chemical species is critical to the success of studies of diverse populations. The demand for these sensors is driv- en by the yet unmet need for wearable sensors to simultaneously and selectively measure multiple analytes with negligible power consumption. In the proposed program, GE Global Research team will meet these require- ments for wearable sensors through the development of a new sensing platform that will dramatically decrease the complexity of accurate monitoring of airborne toxicants such as volatile organic compounds as well as re- ducing and oxidizing gases. The proposed sensor system will employ a novel sensing approach recently devel- oped at GE Global Research that utilizes resonant antenna structures of passive inductively coupled radio-fre- quency identification (RFID) sensors with organic electronic films that will serve as analyte-sensing coatings. This new sensing approach will provide selective quantitation of toxic volatile species with sub-ppm detection limits in presence of uncontrolled variations of ambient humidity. This response selectivity will be achieved not with an array of these sensors but with a single sensor. Such capability will be accomplished by capitalizing on (1) molecular recognition of gases by organic electronic polymers using several vapor-response mechanisms that act simultaneously, (2) new design of sensor transducer to fully probe these vapor-polymer interactions, and (3) standard multivariate analysis of the complex impedance response of the resonance sensor antenna structure. Developed sensors will be interrogated by a matchbox-sized, wearable sensor reader that will relate the findings to a local base station for a long-range transmission. The assembled research team has significant and recog- nized practical knowledge in chemical sensor design, synthesis of organic electronic polymers, low-power RF communications, and multivariate signal processing. This expertise will be coupled with key preliminary results that will facilitate the success of the proposed program. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: An unmet need for wearable sensors to simultaneously and selectively measure multiple analytes with negligible power consumption is a strong driving force in the development of new sensing concepts. In the proposed pro- gram, the team will employ a novel sensing approach that utilizes resonant antenna structures of passive induc- tively coupled radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensors with organic electronic films that will serve as ana- lyte-sensing coatings. This new sensing approach will provide a wearable, cost-effective, selective sensor for de- tection of toxic volatile species.