NSRI IRAD 2021 update — personal, wearable sensor platform for detecting & localizing WMDs

Current environmental monitors typically consist of bulky, intrusive stationary or portable systems that cannot be worn comfortably on the body during physical activity. An interdisciplinary research team of faculty and students from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and Texas A&M (A&M) is developing a sensitive surveillance system in the form of a wearable electronic nose that will automatically and passively monitor the air to detect previously defined environmental and chemical threats. This new small, adhesive device transforms each person into a probe while collecting more and better data that provides decision makers with detailed, real-time information to determine threat status. "The NSRI IRAD project has provided us the opportunity to learn more about potential airborne hazards and threats, the human body's response and available sensing technologies," said NSRI Fellow Dr. Eric Markvicka, UNL assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering. "We have also identified and addressed critical challenges related to the integration of polymer-based gas sensors with supporting electronic components and the intimate integration of these technologies with the human body." https://nsri.nebraska.edu/news/news-releases/2022/06/nsri-irad-2021-update-personal-wearable-sensor-platform-for-detecting-localizing-wmds