Electronic Nose or Tongue Sensors

• US 20150037909A1
• Filed: 02/21/2013
• Published: 02/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique, Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), Universite Paris - Sud
• Original Assignee: Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique, Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), Universite Paris - Sud
• Inventors: Livache, Thierry, Bonnaffe, David, Hou-Broutin, Yanxia, Buhot, Arnaud
• Granted Patent: US 11,085,921 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 436/501
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00533 essentially rectangular
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00596 Solid-phase processes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00605 the compounds being directly bound or immobilised to solid supports
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00659 Two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00702 Processes involving means for analysing and characterising the products
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0031 comprising two or more sensors, e.g. a sensor array
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/543 with an insoluble carrier for immobilising immunochemicals
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/54373 involving physiochemical end-point determination, e.g. wave-guides, FETS, gratings

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sensor for an electronic tongue or nose for analysing a sample or detecting a target. The sensor comprises a support, on one surface of which a plurality of sensitive areas are located, each sensitive area comprising at least one receptor and being capable of transmitting a measurable signal generated by the interaction of at least one constituent of the sample or one target with at least one receptor. The sensor is characterised in that it comprises at least three sensitive areas that differ from one another in terms of their respective receptor compositions, at least one of the sensitive areas comprising a mixture of at least two different receptors, while the two other sensitive areas each comprise at least one of the two receptors.

Claims

1. An electronic tongue or nose sensor for analyzing a sample or detecting at least one target, comprising a support on one surface of which is a plurality of sensitive zones, each comprising at least one receptor, it being possible for each sensitive zone to emit a measurable signal generated by the interaction of at least one constituent of the sample or of at least one target with at least one receptor, characterized in that it comprises at least three sensitive zones which differ from one another by virtue of their respective receptor compositions, at least one of the sensitive zones comprising a mixture of at least two different receptors, the other two sensitive zones each comprising at least one of the two receptors.

2. The electronic tongue or nose sensor as claimed in claim 1, comprising a plurality of sensitive zones which each comprise a mixture of at least two different receptors, the different receptors being the same in each mixture, and which differ from one another in terms of the respective proportions of the different receptors that they comprise.

3. The electronic tongue or nose sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the sensitive zones comprises a mixture of at least three different receptors.

4. The electronic tongue or nose sensor as claimed in claim 1, comprising a plurality of sensitive zones which each comprise a mixture of at least three different receptors, the different receptors being the same in each mixture, and which differ from one another in terms of the respective proportions of the different receptors that they comprise.

5. The electronic tongue or nose sensor as claimed in claim 1, comprising at least as many sensitive zones comprising a single type of receptor as there are different receptors in the sensor, each of the different receptors of the sensor being respectively included in each of the sensitive zones comprising a single type of receptor.

6. The electronic tongue or nose sensor as claimed in claim 1, comprising a sufficient number of sensitive zones for the profile of the signals emitted by all the zones to make it possible to identify the presence of at least one defective sensitive zone.

8. A process for analyzing a sample, in which:

a sensor as defined in claim 1 is brought into contact with the sample;

the signals emitted by the sensitive zones of the sensor are measured;

the signals measured in the previous step are compared with the signals generated independently by the sensitive zones of the same sensor, or of a second similar sensor, subsequent to bringing into contact with at least one other sample; and

the sample analyzed is described.

9. The process as claimed in claim 8, in which:

a sensor as defined in claim 1 is brought into contact with the sample;

the signals emitted by the sensitive zones of the sensor are measured;

the signals measured in the previous step are compared with the signals generated independently by the sensitive zones of the same sensor, or of a second similar sensor, subsequent to bringing into contact with at least one control sample; and

the sample analyzed is described with respect to at least one control sample.

10. The process as claimed in claim 8, in which:

a sensor or a plurality of similar sensors as defined in claim 1, is brought into contact with a plurality of samples;

the signals emitted by the sensitive zones of the sensor(s) are measured for each sample;

the signals measured for each sample are compared with one another; and

each sample is categorized with respect to all the samples analyzed.

11. The process as claimed in claim 8, also comprising a step of verifying the functionality of the sensitive zones of the sensor by comparison of the signal emitted by a sensitive zone with that emitted by at least two other sensitive zones.

13. A process of preparing a three-dimensional structure coated with a mixture of receptors, intended to interact or not to interact with at least one target, comprising:

bringing the target into contact with a sensor as defined in claim 1;

identifying a sensitive zone of the sensor emitting a signal of which the intensity is indicative of an affinity for the target similar to the desired affinity of the three-dimensional structure coated with a mixture of receptors for the target; and

coating the three-dimensional structure with a mixture of receptors having a receptor composition similar to that of the sensitive zone identified.

14. The process as claimed in claim 13, also comprising a step of verifying the functionality of the sensitive zones by comparison of the signal emitted by each sensitive zone with that emitted by at least two other sensitive zones.

7. (canceled)

12. (canceled)