Chemical and biological agent sensor array detectors
First Claim
1. A biological agent detection apparatus, comprising:
- a substrate;
an array of two or more sensors arranged on the substrate, wherein at least a first one of the sensors includes a sensing element configured to detect a biological agent;
a power module for supplying power to the detection apparatus;
a pick-up antenna, wherein the power is supplied by an external RF field received by the antenna;
a processing module directly coupled to each of the sensors and configured to process signals received from the two or more sensors to produce an output signal; and
a communication module configured to provide information to a user in response to the output signal having a value at or above a threshold value,wherein the array of two or more sensors includes;
an activating unit configured to activate only one of said two or more sensors at any point in time, in order to reduce power consumption of the apparatus,wherein the activating unit comprises;
at least one shift register for selectively accessing one of the two or more sensors;
decoding circuitry for decoding an output of the at least one shift register;
a switch for receiving the decoded outputs of the decoding circuitry, and for toggling a current based on the decoded outputs; and
a resistive sensor element for receiving the toggled current, wherein the toggled current is utilized to access only one of the two or more sensors at any point in time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Chemical and biological detector systems, devices and apparatus. Such devices may be portable and wearable, such as badges, that are analyte-general, rather than analyte-specific, and which provide an optimal way to notify and protect personnel against known and unknown airborne chemical and biological hazards. The devices of the present invention are advantageously low-cost, have low-power requirements, may be wearable and are designed to detect and alarm to a general chemical and biological threat. A sensor device of the present invention in one embodiment includes two or more sensor devices, a processing module coupled to each of the sensor devices and configured to process signals received from each of the two or more sensor devices to determine an environmental state; and a communication module that communicates information about the environmental state to a user.
176 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A biological agent detection apparatus, comprising:
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a substrate; an array of two or more sensors arranged on the substrate, wherein at least a first one of the sensors includes a sensing element configured to detect a biological agent; a power module for supplying power to the detection apparatus; a pick-up antenna, wherein the power is supplied by an external RF field received by the antenna; a processing module directly coupled to each of the sensors and configured to process signals received from the two or more sensors to produce an output signal; and a communication module configured to provide information to a user in response to the output signal having a value at or above a threshold value, wherein the array of two or more sensors includes; an activating unit configured to activate only one of said two or more sensors at any point in time, in order to reduce power consumption of the apparatus, wherein the activating unit comprises; at least one shift register for selectively accessing one of the two or more sensors; decoding circuitry for decoding an output of the at least one shift register; a switch for receiving the decoded outputs of the decoding circuitry, and for toggling a current based on the decoded outputs; and a resistive sensor element for receiving the toggled current, wherein the toggled current is utilized to access only one of the two or more sensors at any point in time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A biological agent detection apparatus, comprising:
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a substrate; an array of two or more sensors arranged on the substrate, wherein at least a first one of the sensors includes a sensing element configured to detect a biological agent; a power module for supplying power to the detection apparatus; a pick-up antenna, wherein the power is supplied by an external RF field received by the antenna; a processing module directly coupled to each of the sensors and configured to process signals received from the two or more sensors to produce an output signal; a communication module configured to provide information to a user in response to the output signal having a value at or above a threshold value; and a controlling unit configured to control the processing module to cause the processing module to read out the signals from the two or more sensors in a particular sequential order, so as to prioritize certain sensors of the two or more sensors with respect to other sensors of the two or more sensors, wherein the array of two or more sensors includes; an activating unit configured to activate only one of said two or more sensors at any point in time, in order to reduce power consumption of the apparatus.
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Specification